East Asia, China, Shang Dynasty, ca. 1558 to 1046 BCE. A hand-carved ritual funerary item known as a "cong" that is hand-carved from mottled green-hued stone with gray, beige, and dark green inclusions. The intriguing implement features a cylindrical interior cavity with a thick rim as well as a relatively rectangular body with 4 projecting corners on each end and sharp edges along its length. The asymmetrical drill markings can still be seen within the body to show exactly how this cong was formed. Size: 2.5" L x 2.5" W x 3.2" H (6.4 cm x 6.4 cm x 8.1 cm)

During the Shang dynasty, members of the royalty were accompanied in the afterlife by their bronzes, ceramics, weapons, amulets, and ornaments, and even the human and animal entourage that surrounded them in life. Jade items like this one formed part of the decoration of these tombs and seem to have been reserved for the most elite people in society. The funerary function of nephrite jade congs like this example probably had a religious connotation. Some scholars of Chinese Neolithic history and anthropology posit that the cong is "?based on the ancient Chinese notion that earth was square and heaven round, while the hole in the object represents the passage connecting heaven and earth." (Weichao, Yu. "A Journey into China's Antiquity - Volume 1: Palaeolithic Age - Spring and Autumn Period." National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, China, 1997, p. 80)

Provenance: private New Jersey, USA collection; ex-Arts Du Monde, New York, New York, USA, before 2000

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#180194

Minor nicks and abrasions, otherwise intact and excellent. Great surface smoothness throughout, and wonderful preservation to overall form.