A RARE AND MASSIVE NINE-TIERED GREEN AND RUSSET JADE CONG, LIANGZHU CULTURE OR LATER

Expert’s note:
The present piece, carved with nine tiers of face masks, is exceptionally tall for a Liangzhu jade cong, and would have undoubtedly been extremely time-consuming to make due to the consumption of such a large piece of material. Each tier is delicately rendered at the four corners with circles displaying the eyes, a raised rib underneath denoting the nose and two slimmer parallel bands above indicating the crown. Such large pieces are very rare and examples with nine tiers are particularly uncommon.

China, c. 3300-2200 BC or later. Superbly carved, of square cross section surrounding a cylindrically hollowed tube to the center with rounded square corners, and tapering slightly from top to bottom. The sides are divided into nine registers with a stylized mask at each of the four corners, comprising two long bars above a shorter bar and flanked by two incised circles. The opaque stone of a mottled spinach color with creamy inclusions and russet veining.


Provenance
: A private collection in Belgium, and thence by descent.

Condition
: Good condition with significant old wear and traces of use, as well as nicks and minor losses, mostly along the edges. Traces of weathering and erosion. The stone with natural inclusions and fissures, many of which have developed into distinct hairline cracks over time.

Weight: 12.3 kg
Dimensions: Height 39 cm


Similar carvings can be found in the lavishly adorned tombs of ancient China
, dating back to the late fourth and third millennia B.C., offering intriguing insights into the cultural significance of jade objects as possible prestigious burial gifts or important property of the deceased. The immense value placed on these jade items continued into the modern period with collectors from scholars to the emperor himself keeping such jades as decorative artifacts, using them as objects of contemplation, and even fitting them out with copper liners for use as flower vases.


Literature comparison:

Compare a closely related green and russet jade cong, also carved with nine registers and of similar form and color, dated to the end of the third millennium BC, in the collection of the Palace Museum, Beijing, exhibited by the Berliner Festspiele, Horizonte - Festival der Weltkulturen, 12 May-18 August 1985, cat. no. 54, and illustrated by Lothar Ledderose (ed.), Palastmuseum Peking, Schätze aus der Verbotenen Stadt, p. 180, no. 106.




良渚文化或更晚九層玉琮

中國，約公元前 3300-2200 年或更晚。器形呈高方柱體，內圓外方，上下端為圓面的射。共九層， 側面被分為九個區域，四個角各有一個人面紋。菠菜色的不透明玉石，半透明的深綠色區域點綴著黑色斑點和白色紋理。


來源：
比利時私人收藏，傳承至今。

品相：
狀況良好，有磨損和使用痕跡、刻痕和輕微損失，大部分位於邊緣，風化和侵蝕的痕跡。玉石具有天然內沁和裂縫，其中許多隨著時間的推移已經發展成明顯的裂縫。

重量：12.3 公斤
尺寸：高 39 厘米


文獻比較：

比較一件非常相近的西元前三千年青玉留皮玉琮，相似的外形和顏色，收藏於北京故宮博物院，展覽於《Berliner Festspiele，Horizonte - Festival der Weltkulturen》，1985年5月12日 - 8月18日，圖錄編號54，以及見Lothar Ledderose 編，《Palastmuseum Peking，Schätze aus der Verbotenen Stadt》，頁180，編號106。