Lot 906. A rare and finely carved mottled opaque jade cong, Neolithic Period, Liangzhu Culture, 3rd millenium BC. Estimate $100,000 – $150,000. Photo Christie's Image Ltd 2016

The thick-walled cong is carved with squared, projecting corners divided into two registers, each carved with a rudimentary mask formed by two raised bands carved with parallel lines above a pair of incised circular eyes and a simplified nose formed by a small raised band with rounded ends. The stone is now opaque and of mottled yellowish-green and brown color with areas of ivory-colored alteration. The lower corners of the face have been carved to delineate the mask’s 'cheeks.' Together with Chinese Jade: Selected articles from Orientations 1983-1996, Hong Kong, 1997.3 in. (7.7 cm.) wide, box

Provenance: B. K. Wong, Hong Kong, 24 November 1987.

Literature: Magic, Art and Order: Jade in Chinese Culture, Palm Springs Desert Museum, 1990, p. 64, no. 55.
Nicole De Bisscop, Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Brussels, 1995, p. 37, no. 7.
Filippo Salviati, "The Dongxi Collection of Chinese Jades", Orientations, November 1995, p. 47, fig. 3.

Exhibited: Magic, Art and Order: Jade in Chinese Culture, Palm Springs Desert Museum, California, 1990, no. 55.
Chinese Jade and Scroll Paintings from the Dongxi Collection, Kredietbank Gallery, Brussels, 25 October 17 - December 1995; Kredietbank Luxembourg, 1 February - 13 April 1996, no. 7. 

Notes: This cong with its anthropomorphic masks is very similar in the style of carving and size to one illustrated by James C. Y. Watt in Chinese Jades from the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1989, p. 29, no. 2. Another in the Freer Gallery of Art is illustrated by Julia K. Murray in "Neolithic Chinese Jades in the Freer Gallery of Art", Orientations, November 1983, pp. 4-12, fig. 116. J. Rawson in Chinese Jade from the Neolithic to the Qing, British Museum, 1995, p. 124, illustrates line drawings of two similar cong from Zhejiang Yuhang Yaoshan. See, also, the similar example illustrated by Yang Boda in Chinese Archaic Jades from the Kwan Collection, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1994, no. 50.

Christie's. DONGXI STUDIO- IMPORTANT CHINESE JADE AND HARDSTONE CARVINGS FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION, 17 March 2016, New York, Rockefeller Plaza