This is a small cong made during the Qing dynasty. Excellant skill is seen on this fine piece of carved jade. A nice round cong with 4 tiger faces carved on the surface. My wife argued that they were glued on untill I showed her under magnification. There are calcium deposits in all the deep crevices. The age of this piece can clearly be seen on the outer edges of the tigers(there are 4) face and also as compared the top and bottom. The patination has caused the jade to turn a rich brown color. When you look at pieces before the advent of electricity you can tell the ones that are worked with ancient tools. They used a foot peddle operated carving device that was operated by pumping the foot up and down which rotated the drill on the end of the instrument. The early carvings are just a little but rougher than the modern high speed drills ran by electricity. When you have the 2 side by side the difference is obvious.The piece has that nice heavy feel to it like a good quality stone artifact should. Good quality stone pcs. all have the same characteristics when they are authentic.