China, Neolithic period, c. 3300-2200 BC. The thick-walled cong with gently rounded sides and a cylindrical interior, carved to each corner with a stylized human and animal mask design. The eyes and noses as well as the raised bands above the human masks and recesses in between are finely incised with line and scroll designs. The faces are divided with a gently recessed vertical band to the center of each side. The opaque stone of a mottled reddish-brown tone with striations of translucent celadon and red, as well as patches of calcification.
Provenance: From the Sam and Myrna Myers Collection. Sam and Myrna are first generation Americans, who shared a taste for collecting beautiful objects of art. On a trip to Ascona, Switzerland, the couple stumbled into a small antique shop which started their journey of collecting antiques. When Sam Myers was sent to Paris by his law firm in the mid-1960s, he and his wife Myrna became so enamored with the city that they decided to make it their home. There, over the course of 50 years, they built an extraordinary art collection, and in 1976, Myrna opened a gallery in Paris specializing in Asian art. Their collection spans a wide range of precious objects from Chinese jades, ceramics, textiles, Indian ivory carvings, to Japanese clothing and lacquer, some of which was exhibited in the Kimbell Art Museum. Part of their collection was sold at Sotheby’s, London ‘Two Americans in Paris, The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers’, on 4 November 2021. The couple also worked together with jade expert Filippo Salviati to create one of the most outstanding jade collections globally and authored several books on jade, including ‘Radiant Stones’ (2000), ‘The Language of Adornment’ (2002) and ‘Genèse de l’empire céleste’ (2020).
Condition: Very good condition with surface wear and natural imperfections. Some nibbling to the edges, tiny nicks, few natural fissures, and traces of weathering.
Weight: 409.8 g
Dimensions: Height 5.7 cm, Length 7.6 cm
Literature comparison:
Compare a related ritual implement (cong), Liangzhu culture, in the collection of the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, object number B60J603. Compare a related jade cong with design of mythical creatures, 6.8 cm tall, Liangzhu culture, in the National Palace Museum, illustrated in The Complete Collection of the Treasures of the Palace Museum: Jadeware, Hong Kong, 1995, p. 36, no. 31.
Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 11 June 2021, lot 3167
Price: HKD 212,500 or approx. EUR 27,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A mottled russet and celadon jade two-tiered jade cong, Qijia culture
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form and similar carving, color, and size (6 cm) of the stone.
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