A LIANGZHU JADE CONGChina, Neolithic Culture of Liangzhu, 3300-2200 BC. Provenance: From an old Austrian-Czech private collection. Authenticated by Filippo Salviati, Professor of Chinese art in the department of Orientalism at the University of La Sapienza in Rome, Italy. Thereafter in the possession of a notable private collector from Brussels, Belgium.Condition: Superb condition with extensive weathering, old wear, a nicely developed natural patina, a few tiny nicks here and there and three larger chips to edges. Weight: 1023 grams.Dimensions: Height 18 cm, diameter 6.7 cm, drilling 5.2 cm.A beautifully matured Cong, carved of opaque nephrite, to which 4000 years of burial have lent an unusual violet-grey color with distinctive russet spotting. A finely grained white veining is visible with its highest density at of the four corners. Meticulous precision of the incised hair-fine decoration.The three-leveled Cong of tubular form, the exterior superbly and subtly angled with four projecting corners, each worked with three stylized monster faces accentuated with well-defined eyes widening towards the temples and enclosing piercing circular pupils, above a narrow horizontal ridge indicating the mouth, and two horizontally engraved bands with two neatly incised circles. The four groups of three monster faces each divided with a gently recessed vertical band in the center of each side. Wide inner drilling (at that time extremely time consuming) showing the usual step at the center. The large area of the Liangzhu Culture with its many burial places is situated between Daihu (Big Lake, not far from Shanghai) and the port city of Hangzhou. Compare with several related Congs in Liangzhu Wenhua Yuqi (Shanghai 1989, lots 44 to 54), some of similar size as the present example, as well as resembling colors and degrees of weathering. 良渚文化玉琮中國，新石器時代良渚文化，公元前3300-2200來源：一個奧地利-捷克私人收藏；由意大利羅馬大學東亞係中國藝術部Filippo Salviati教授鑒定；之後由一個比利時布魯塞爾私人藏家收藏品相：極好，嚴重風化，舊時磨損，天然發展而成的包漿，一些劃痕以及邊緣三處大裂縫重量：1023克尺寸：高18厘米，直徑6.7厘米，孔5.2厘米