5"H x 2 7/8"W, 2 1/2 lbs.
Cong (pronounced tsong) are unusual jade objects found among the graves of the Liangzhu culture in the eastern province of Jiangsu, around Lake Tai, near present-day Shanghai. The Liangzhu civilization (3300–2300 BC) was the last Chinese Neolithic jade culture in the Yangtze River Delta.
The original function and meaning of the cong are unknown, although it is generally considered to be a ritual object of some sort. This one has the usual abstract eyes and mouth finely carved in multiple columns.
Cong were extremely difficult and time-consuming to produce. As jade cannot be split like other stones, it must be worked with a hard abrasive sand.
The Neolithic period, which began in China around 10,000
B.C. and concluded with the introduction of metallurgy about 8,000 years later,
was characterized by the development of settled communities that relied
primarily on farming and domesticated animals rather than hunting and gathering,
the appearance of such crafts as pottery and weaving, and the creation of stone
tools shaped by polishing or grinding.