Monochrome II
Monochrome II
"A MOTTLED GREEN JADE CONG NEOLITHIC PERIOD, LIANGZHU CULTURE" 新石器時代良渚文化 玉琮
A MOTTLED GREEN JADE CONG NEOLITHIC PERIOD, LIANGZHU CULTURE | 新石器時代良渚文化 玉琮
Auction Closed
October 9, 06:06 AM GMT
Estimate
2,000,000 - 3,000,000 HKD
Lot Details
Description
A MOTTLED GREEN JADE CONG
NEOLITHIC PERIOD, LIANGZHU CULTURE
新石器時代良渚文化 玉琮
of cylindrical form with square projections on four corners, the sides slightly tapering towards the base, each corner carved with five registers of stylised mask comprising twin bands of narrow parallel grooves above incised circular ‘eyes’ and a short raised band with rounded ends for the ‘nose’, the dark green jade mottled and streaked with cloudy off-white and black inclusions
15.9 cm, 6 ¼ in.
J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 4th April 1994.
藍理捷，紐約，1994年4月4日
Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Jades and Works of Art, J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 1994, cat. no. 19.
Ancient Chinese Jade, J.J. Lally & Co., New York, 2018, cat. no. 24.
《Archaic Chinese Bronzes, Jades and Works of Art》，藍理捷，紐約，1994年，編號19
《Ancient Chinese Jade》，藍理捷，紐約，2018年，編號24
Comparable multi-tiered cong are preserved in major museums and private collections. Two five-tier examples are in the collection of the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., nos F1917.63 and F1917.368. A six-tier cong from the Qing court collection is now preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, no. Gu yu 02038. A four-tier cong from the Yangdetang collection was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28th November 2018, lot 2702; and a three-tier one from the Lantien Shanfang and Chang Wei-Hwa collections was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 27th November 2019, lot 2720. See also a six-tier example excavated from Pingyao, exhibited in The Dawn of Chinese Civilizations: Jades of the Liangzhu Collection, Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 1998, cat. no. 4.
Liangzhu cong were imitated or repurposed not only in other Neolithic cultures, but also for centuries thereafter. See a Shang dynasty reinterpretation offered in the same sale (lot 70), on which the horizontal elements are further simplified and the round eyes have vanished. Song dynasty potters were inspired to create cong ceramic vases which accentuate the beauty of glazes through their angular, almost architectural structure (see an example sold in these rooms, 2nd April 2019, lot 3039). Archaic jade cong in the Qing court collection were particularly appreciated by the Qianlong Emperor, who commissioned metal liners in order to turn the hollow tubes into flower vessels, oftentimes upside down. See a Liangzhu jade cong, later inscribed with a Qianlong imperial poem and fitted with a cloisonné enamel liner, albeit in the wrong direction with the faces inverted, from the Qing court collection and preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, included in The Enchanting Splendor of Vases and Planters: A Special Exhibition of Flower Vessels from the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Taipei, 2002, cat. no. II-07.