Squared disc (cong)

CC0 Public Domain Designation

Arts of Asia

Neolithic period (ca. 8000–2000 BC), Liangzhu Culture, ca. 3000–2500 B.C.

China

Elaborately furnished Chinese tombs of the late fourth and third millennia B.C. reveal that jade objects were prestigious burial gifts, particularly among the Liangzhu people of the eastern coast (present-day Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces). This bracelet-like form is carved with a masklike image composed of circles and bars that suggest eyes and nose or mouth. The same motif is seen in the tapered exterior surfaces of tall prisms, where it is multiplied in vertical tiers.

Jade-rich burials suggest that Chinese beliefs in the stone’s life-preserving properties originated in prehistoric times.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Asia

Title: Squared disc (cong)
Place: China (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 3000 BCE–2000 BCE
Medium: Jade
Dimensions: 3.2 × 10.8 cm (1 1/4 × 4 1/4 in.)
Credit Line: Edward and Louise B. Sonnenschein Collection
Reference Number: 1950.519
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/69688/manifest.json

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.