Cong van jade

About this artwork

Bruikleen van de Koninklijke Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst (legaat Gerrit-Jan Verburgt, 1969)

Art Historical Context

Welcome to our virtual museum exhibit! This exquisite **Cong van jade**, crafted anonymously between 1600 and 1699 during China's late Ming or early Qing dynasty, is a masterful example of carved jade artistry. Standing at a modest 11.2 cm high and 6.5 cm wide and deep, its compact form belies the immense skill required to shape tough rock jade—a material revered in Chinese culture for its purity, durability, and luminous polish. The *cong* form harks back to ancient Neolithic rituals (circa 3000 BCE), with its square exterior symbolizing the earth and cylindrical inner perforation evoking heaven, bridging cosmology and shamanistic practices. By the 17th century, such pieces were revived as scholarly antiquities or status symbols among elites, showcasing lapidary techniques like precise hollowing and intricate surface decoration honed over millennia. Generously on loan from the Koninklijke Vereniging van Vrienden der Aziatische Kunst (a 1969 legacy of Gerrit-Jan Verburgt), this artifact connects us to Asia's timeless jade legacy, inviting reflection on continuity between ancient rites and imperial refinement.

About the Artist

anonymous

In the vast tapestry of art history, "Anonymous" stands not as a singular individual but as a collective designation for countless unidentified creators whose works have endured across millennia. These artists, spanning prehistoric cave painters to medieval illuminators and folk craftsmen, produced the foundational layers of human visual culture. Prior to the Renaissance, when individual fame emer...