Nine-tier tube (cong 琮) with masks

Object Details

• Description

  Ts’ung [cong] 琮. Marbled dark gray-green with rust streaks. A squarish cylinder is pierced lengthwise by a large tubular hole drilled from both sides. A low ledge on the inner walls of the hole marks the junction of the two drills. The four corners of the cylinder are accented by a series of notched projections running the length of the cylinder, leaving only a narrow collar at top and bottom. The notches are marked by fine and closely packed horizontal lines. Small incised circles on either side of the corners suggest eyes.

• Provenance

  To 1959

  Abel William Bahr (1877-1959), Shanghai, China, London, England, Montreal, Canada, New York, NY, and Ridgefield, Connecticut

  [1]

  From 1963 to 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler, New York, purchased from the Bahr Collection in 1963 [2]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Dr. Arthur M. Sackler on September 11, 1987 [3]

  Notes:

  [1] According to information provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009.

  [2] See #160:

  "Dark green with brown stains and mottling. Dec. along four corners by nine separate rectangular fields in relief carvings of abstract masks. Wooden stand and box...Upper and lower corners broken off," on list provided by the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation, October 9, 2009, copy in object file.

  [3] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  The Arts of China (November 18, 1990 to September 7, 2014)

  In Praise of Ancestors: Ritual Objects from China (September 28, 1987 to January 1, 1989)

  Studies in connoisseurship: Chinese paintings from the Arthur M. Sackler collection in New York and Princeton (December 8, 1973 to 1975)

  Untitled Exhibition, Princeton, 1969 (1969)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Abel William Bahr (1877-1959)

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Origin

  Lake Tai region, China

• Culture

  Liangzhu culture, ca. 3300-ca. 2250 BCE

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Ceremonial Object

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  BCE 2000s, BCE 3000s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M., Bahr, Abel William

• Place

  Lake Tai region, China

• Topic

  Art, Late Neolithic period (ca. 5000 - ca. 1700 BCE), Chinese Art, Nephrite, Jade

• Culture

  Chinese, Liangzhu culture

• Object Type

  Ceremonial objects