A LARGE AND IMPORTANT ELEVEN-TIERED JADE CONG, NEOLITHIC PERIOD, LIANGZHU CULTURE
This lot is from a single owner collection and is therefore offered without reserve

Published: Jean-Paul Desroches (ed.) et al, Two Americans in Paris: A Quest for Asian Art, Paris, 2016, p. 43, no. 40.

Exhibited:
1. Pointe-à-Callière Museum, From the Lands of Asia. The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Montréal, 17 November 2016-19 March 2017.
2. Kimbell Art Museum, From the Lands of Asia. The Sam and Myrna Myers Collection, Fort Worth, Texas, 4 March-19 August 2018.

China, c. 3300-2200 BC. Of cylindrical form with square projections on four corners, the sides slightly tapering towards the base, each corner carved with a stylized mask comprising twin bands of narrow parallel grooves above incised circular ‘eyes’ and a short, raised band with rounded ends for the ‘nose’. The opaque stone of brownish and greenish tones with dark inclusions and some areas of creamy-white calcification.

Provenance: The Collection of Sam and Myrna Myers, Paris, France. According to the Myers ledger, this was acquired on 22 July 1996, and has been in the collection for 30 years.
Condition: Very good condition, commensurate with age, with expected wear and inherent natural imperfections, such as inclusions and small fissures. Distinct traces of weathering and erosion, with signs of prolonged burial. Few minuscule nicks and old smoothened chips.

Weight: 1,392 g
Dimensions: Height 23.6 cm

The Liangzhu culture and its remarkable jade artifacts came to prominence in the late 1980s, when the discovery of several significant cemeteries brought international attention to the richness of their tomb contents. Since then, a wave of new archaeological findings has dramatically transformed our understanding of this late Neolithic civilization. At the Mojiaoshan site, Chinese archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a vast, walled settlement covering 750 acres. This site, the largest known walled settlement from late Neolithic China, includes palatial foundations, jade workshops, habitation zones, and a sophisticated network of internal waterways.

Distinguished by their quantity, variety, and superb craftsmanship, Liangzhu jades are among the most iconic artifacts in the history of Chinese civilization. Among them, the jade cong stands out as the most emblematic. These objects feature a square exterior surrounding a circular inner hollow, with each corner serving as a vertical axis for the carving of symmetrical mask motifs. Early examples are typically squat and intricately decorated with deities or animal forms. In contrast, later versions are tall and slender, with stylized facial features dominated by prominent eyes and noses.

The development of tall cong is here fully realized in one of the best known of all types. It belongs to the category of larger cong fully displayed in tomb M3 at Jiangsu Wujin Sidun. Although large examples are abundant in this tomb, fourteen of the thirty-two found are over 20 cm in height. Very few tombs with such an abundance of cong have come to light, though a few large cong have come from smaller tombs. There are a number of large multi-tiered cong in museums in Asia and the West, and these pieces may all have come from one or two large tombs discovered in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Large cong must have been known as early as the Song period, when they were copied in Longquan celadon and Guan ware. Ming Wilson (Chinese Jades, London, 2004, pp. 15-16) suggests that the Song potters might have been inspired by the jade cong unearthed during the construction of their new capital at Lin’an, modern-day Hangzhou, where many cong were found in recent decades.

Literature comparison:
Compare two closely related Liangzhu jade cong, one with seven elements and the other with seventeen, both from the collection of Sir Joseph Hotung and now in the British Museum, registration numbers 2022,3034.242 and 2022,3034.241, dated to 3300-2200 BC, 23.3 cm and 49 cm high, in the British Museum, discussed by Jessica Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, cat. no. 5 and 6, respectively.

Auction result comparison:
Type: Closely related
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 9 April 2024, lot 3603
Price: HKD 1,651,000 or approx. EUR 182,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: A mottled jade cong, Neolithic period, Liangzhu culture
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, and color of the stone. Note the similar size (23.8 cm).

Auction result comparison:
Type: Related
Auction: Christie’s Hong Kong, 29 November 2017, lot 2710
Price: HKD 8,500,000 or approx. EUR 1,065,000 converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An exceedingly rare nine-tiered jade cong, late Liangzhu culture, c. 2600-2300 BC
Expert remark: Compare the closely related form, manner of carving, and color of the stone. Note the similar size (23.5 cm).