Pictorial Charm Item Number: Edz4194 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Round charm, square hole in centre, inner and outer rims on both sides, two Chinese characters on obverse, pictorial design on reverse; horse on obverse; Zhuhang/Chu Huang, right left in Chinese characters on reverse, meaning "great yellow ( a horse's name)".

History Of Use

A charm with a good-luck message (Larson, David). A gaming token used for the "Horse Coin Game" which had been popular since the Song Dynasty and vanished by the Qing Period (Li, Min).

Iconographic Meaning

Chu Huang was the name of one of the horses that pulled the chariot of King Zhou Muwang, the legendary Zhou king of the early first millenium B.C. who toured the remote areas in Central Asia on a chariot pulled by the finest horses.

Item History

What

Name
Pictorial Charm
Identification Number
Edz4194
Type of Item
charm
Material
copper alloy metal
Manufacturing Technique
cast and filed
Overall
height 0.21 cm, diameter 2.93 cm, weight 6.52 g

Who

Culture
Chinese
Previous Owner
Colin Campbell Brown and Hugh Campbell Brown
Received from
Hugh Campbell Brown (Donor)

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
China

When

Creation Date
between 960 and 1911
Collection Date
between 1893 and 1911
Ownership Date
before February 1, 1961
Acquisition Date
on February 1, 1961

Other

Item Classes
metalwork
Condition
good
Accession Number
0042/0073 b