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Source Description
Among the jades from the 3rd millennium BCE, the cong displays the most complex form: a cylinder encased in a square that gently tapers from top to bottom. Simple masks with circular eyes and rectangular mouths decorate the corners. Primarily found in burials and buried caches, jade congs probably served as ritual objects, with the round part representing the heavens and its square part the earth.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
8828
label
Cong
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
8828
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Cong
description
Among the jades from the 3rd millennium BCE, the cong displays the most complex form: a cylinder encased in a square that gently tapers from top to bottom. Simple masks with circular eyes and rectangular mouths decorate the corners. Primarily found in burials and buried caches, jade congs probably served as ritual objects, with the round part representing the heavens and its square part the earth.
provenance
Dr. John C. Ferguson Collection Sale, American Art Association, April 7, 1916, no. 57; Henry Walters, Baltimore, April 7, 1916, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
3rd millennium BCE (Neolithic)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Precious Stones & Gems
cong
ts'ung
vessels
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
16.5
height
7.6
depth
7.6
dimensionsRaw
H: 6 1/2 × W: 3 × D: 3 in. (16.5 × 7.6 × 7.6 cm)
Source extras
cul
Chinese
med
jade
creator_ids
6238
collection_ids
CHN
PRE
exhibition_ids
none
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
7f58136ce654d077