Lot 704. A large mottled black and brown jade cong, Neolithic period, 3rd millenium BC; 4 3⁄8 in. (11.1 cm.) square. Estimate USD 6,000 - USD 8,000. Price realised USD 94,500. © Christie's 2022

The thick-walled cylinder has squared, projecting corners decorated with two rudimentary masks each formed by two long horizontal bands above a shorter band with rounded ends and a pair of incised circular eyes. The blackish stone has areas of brown and buff alteration. 

Provenance: The Property of a Private Collector; Christie’s New York, 4 June 1992, lot 174.

Note: A slightly smaller cong of similar blackish-brown stone, but carved with only one mask register, is in the Winthrop Collection, illustrated by M. Loehr, Ancient Chinese Jades, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, 1975, no. 235.

Christie's. Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, New York, 25 march 2022