A BEAUTIFUL, THOROUGHLY POLISHED PLAIN CONG OF SQUARE SHAPE CARVED FROM EMERALD GREEN JADE

Jade. China, Late Neolithic, Longshan culture, c.2600-1900 BC
玉琮精品 - 龍山文化, 約公元前 2600-1900年

HEIGHT: 6 CM, WIDTH: 7 CM, DIAMETER: 6.9 CM, DIAMETER OF INNER HOLE:
5.3 CM, THICKNESS: 9.2 MM
高6厘米，寬7厘米，直徑6.9厘米，內孔直徑5.3厘米，厚9.2厘米

What immediately attracts the eye when looking at this plain cong 琮is the quality and beautiful colour of the jade, which is a mottled light emerald green, with many diffused white and darker swirled areas throughout.

The cong has the typical basic square shape of Longshan culture (c.2600-1900 BC) jades of this type, but when analyzed more closely one can see that the sides and corners are all slightly rounded, instead of angular and flat. Although polished, inside and out, the sides are also not totally smooth and there are noticeable imperfections in the form of varying widths of the collar, and faint traces of the tool marks on the inside core that reveal the imperfections of the carver’s manual workmanship. One corner that has broken off due to a fault in the jade was smoothed over during the carving process.

Literature comparison/Archaeological sites: Plain cong like the present one were carved by the Longshan culture and have been found in sites in central China, Shaanxi and Henan provinces. Compare, for example, two cong discovered in 1967 in Longshan culture sites near Yan’an city, in Shaanxi province, published in Mou Yongkang, Zhongguo yuqi quanji - 1 Yuanshi shehui 中國玉器全集–1:原始社會 (Chinese Jades: Vol.1, Early Societies), Hebei Meishu Chubanshe, Shijiazhuang 1993, no.43 and 44.

This jade is published in F. Salviati, 4000 Years of Chinese Archaic Jades, Edition
Zacke, Vienna 2017, no.84.

Expertise: Prof. Dr. Filippo Salviati

From a Luxembourg collection 盧森堡舊藏

All jades in this catalogue have been professionally examined, authenticated and described by Prof. Fillipo Salviati. Professor Salviati teaches Chinese and Korean art at Sapienza University in Rome, in the Italian Institute of Oriental Studies. He is a world expert on archaic Chinese jades, having released multiple publications and being cited by renowned auction houses such as Sotheby’s.