Creative Commons License
Cong
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
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
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.
Geographies
China (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 6 1/2 × W: 3 × D: 3 in. (16.5 × 7.6 × 7.6 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1916
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
42.340