Combining my love for ancient beads and ancient jade is this miniature cong-form jade bead
 |
| Cong-form jade Bead |
This mottled ivory color piece was purchased in Ningbo some years back. Ningbo is one of the heritage sites of Liangzhu Culture 3300-2300 BC and many liangzhu artifacts including cong-shape beads have been recovered from the site . I know this is a slim connection but the cong Bead really looks Good 😎.
 |
| Square on the outside and round inside measures 2,5cm x 2cm |
It is in the form of a miniature squared hollow cylinder and measures 2.5cm x 2cm. All four side of this bead is divided with line grooves into 4 plain squares with no decorations. The grooves display toolmarks which maybe a sign of age. Unlike large Liangzhu congs this one does not have the trademark Liangzhu eye decorations, perhaps due to its smaller size.
However one special feature of this cong bead is its strange perforation which is hollowed out from top to bottom and meets in the center displaying a neat triangle shaped wedge.
 |
| Peering down the unusual perforation |
I have not seen such a perf in a bead before and find it a bit perplexing. Also not sure whether such a perf is a plus or minus factor in its being authentic Liangzhu period.
 |
| Cong form Liangzhu bead with strange perforation |
No comments:
Post a Comment