A celadon jade cong, Neolithic period, Qijia Culture - early Shang dynasty | 新石器時代齊家文化至商早期 青玉素面琮

Acquired in Hong Kong, 1994-2002.

1994至2002年購於香港

Compare a few Qijia culture jade congs unearthed in Gansu province with similar styles, illustrated in Gu Fang, The Complete Collection of Jades Unearthed in China, Beijing, 2005, vol. 15, pp. 28, 31-34, and 37-38. See also two comparable congs of the Qijia culture in the Palace Museum, Beijing, published in Compendium of Collections in the Palace Museum: Jade, Beijing, 2011, vol. 1, pls. 201 and 202. 

Such undecorated jade cong is also found in the Shang dynasty. See one also in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in ibid., vol.2, pl. 82. Compare also a jade cong dated to the Neolithic period or Shang dynasty in the British Museum, illustrated in Jessica Rawson, Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, London, 1995, p. 154, pl. 7:3. 

青玉質，四面光素，外方內圓，兩端短射，略斜肩，打磨細緻工整。 

玉琮自新石器時代，特別是良渚文化時期大為流行，為重要禮器，良渚地區玉琮紋飾繁複，西北地區則多為素面斜肩。可比較數件甘肅出土之齊家文化玉琮，高低有別，然風格與本件一致，見古方，《中國出土玉器全集》，北京，2005年，卷15，頁28、31至34及37至38。北京故宮藏有兩件齊家文化玉琮亦資參考，見《故宮博物院藏品大系玉器編》，北京，2011年，卷1，編號201及202。

此類素面琮商代亦有所見，如北京故宮藏一件商代玉琮，肩部處理與本件相同，見前書，卷2，編號82。大英博物館藏有一琮，定為新石器時期或商代，亦資參考，見Jessica Rawson著，《Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing》，倫敦，1995，頁154，圖版7:3。