Chinese “spring” coin charms
Meaning
'Spring' coin charms (chungong qian, 'spring palace' coins) are coin-shaped charms showing couples making love in various positions, sometimes four or eight positions. Spring is a Chinese euphemism for sex.
Intent
They were given to brides and newlyweds as instruction and as wishes for a happy marriage and many children, and carried as luck charms for fertility and harmony, and against evil (evil spirits were thought to be embarrassed by the images).
Significance
They show the frank attitude of Chinese folk culture to marital sex, and are a popular collecting field among coin-charm specialists.
History
They are known from the Tang and Song dynasties, but most surviving pieces date from the Ming and Qing dynasties (14th–19th centuries).
Making yours
3–5 cm cast brass with a square hole and relief scenes on one side. Sand-cast from a master.Sexual & Erotic Charms: the tradition
Sexual imagery is one of the oldest and most universal forms of protection. Fertility is life itself, and the exposed phallus or vulva was believed to shock, amuse or distract malevolent forces, especially the evil eye. Egypt had its ithyphallic gods, Rome its fascinum on every child, doorway and chariot, medieval Europe its obscene badges and sheela-na-gigs, Thailand and Japan their phallic shrines and charms, China its 'spring palace' coins for newlyweds. Victorian collectors hid much of this material in 'secret museums' such as the Gabinetto Segreto in Naples and the British Museum's Secretum, and only in the late 20th century was it studied openly as religion and social history.
More from Sexual & Erotic Charms: Fascinum & phallic charms · Tintinnabula (charm wind-chimes) · Egyptian & Graeco-Egyptian fertility figures · Sheela-na-gigs & exhibitionist figures · Palad khik (phallic charms) · Love charms & aphrodisiac talismans · Other & unsorted Sexual
Every type in the gallery
Anything in the gallery can be made: any piece, any tradition, in its own material or yours, by hand from the documented original. Numbered. Price on commission, quoted before anything is made. I reply within one business day.