A BRONZE ‘TIGER’ TALLY WITH A SILVER-INLAID INSCRIPTION, MING DYNASTY

Inscription:
To the tiger’s back, ‘yu Guiyang Taishou wei hufu zuo jia er’ (for Grand Warden in the Guiyang county as a tiger tally, left jia second).

China, 1368-1644. Well cast, the identification device splitting open in two matching halves, cast in the form of a crouching tiger with a broad rounded-square head and short upright tail, its face detailed with a flattened snout, slender eyes and curling ears. Its tucked limbs and haunches picked out with incised whorls, neatly inlaid in silver wire with an eleven-character inscription along the spine.


Provenance:
New York trade.

Condition:
Good condition with wear and casting irregularities, encrustations, signs of weathering and erosion, few minuscule nicks. The right half with ‘china’ faintly incised on the head. The bronze with a rich, naturally grown patina with malachite, cuprite, and azurite encrustations.

Weight: 533.5 g
Dimensions: Length 11.8 cm


Tiger tallies
, originating from the late Warring States period, were important tokens for the rulers to confer military power upon their regional ministers. The two halves of the tallies were normally held separately by the emperor and the marshals. A valid military command issued by the court had to be accompanied by the emperor’s half of the tally. The reunion of the two halves allows the local marshal to ensure the legitimacy of the command and mobilize the armies in the name of the emperor.


Auction result comparison:

Type: Near-identical
Auction: Sotheby’s Hong Kong, 8 October 2013, lot 3298
Estimate: HKD 100,000 or approx.
EUR 15,000
converted and adjusted for inflation at the time of writing
Description: An inscribed bronze ‘tiger’ tally, Ming dynasty
Expert remark: Compare the closely related design, pose, and inlaid inscription.




明代銅錯銀虎符


中國, 1368-1644年。兩虎匍匐於地，“臣”字圓眼，雙耳葉形卷狀，全身雖寥寥數刀，則顯肌肉飽滿，尾巴短而粗壯，四足向前彎曲呈臥狀。製作精良，工藝考究。


款識：
與桂陽太守為虎符左甲二


來源：
紐約古玩交易。


品相：
狀況良好，有磨損和鑄造不規則、結殼、風化和侵蝕跡象，少量微小的刻痕。右半邊頭上隱約刻有“CHINA”字樣。 青銅有自然包漿，有紅綠色結殼

重量：533.5 克
尺寸：長11.8 厘米


虎符
是古代皇帝調兵遣將用的兵符，用青銅或者黃金做成伏虎形狀的令牌，劈為兩半，其中一半交給將帥，另一半由皇帝保存，只有兩個虎符同時使用，才可以調兵遣將。


拍賣結果比較：

形制：幾乎相同
拍賣：香港蘇富比，2013年10月8日，lot 3298
估價：HKD 100,000（相當於今日
EUR 15,000
）
描述：明銅鑄「虎符」
專家評論：比較非常相近的設計、姿勢和款識。