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Lot Essay
The inscription on this tally, Huangdi yu Lishi hujun tong hufu disi, may be translated: 'The Emperor bestows Military Protector Lishi bronze tiger tally number four'. Inscriptions on both halves of the underside, tong hufu zuo and tong hufu you, designate the pieces as 'bronze tiger tally' 'left' and 'right'. The inscriptions on the chest of the tiger both read Lishi hujun, 'Lishi, Military Protector'.
Tiger tallies were issued to military commanders as documents of imperial authorization regulating the movement of Chinese troops. One half would be kept by the emperor and the other half would be given to a general or other military official. If the two halves were a match when placed together, it ensured the authenticity of an imperial order when a messenger was sent into the field. Two similar tallies are illustrated by O. Sirén, Histoire des Arts Anciens de la Chine: L'Epoque Han et les Six Dynasties, vol. II, Paris and Brussels, 1929, pl. 118 (B), and another bronze tiger tally is illustrated by S.H. Hansford, The Seligman Collection of Oriental Art, vol. I, London, 1959, pl. XIX, A 29.
Tiger tallies were issued to military commanders as documents of imperial authorization regulating the movement of Chinese troops. One half would be kept by the emperor and the other half would be given to a general or other military official. If the two halves were a match when placed together, it ensured the authenticity of an imperial order when a messenger was sent into the field. Two similar tallies are illustrated by O. Sirén, Histoire des Arts Anciens de la Chine: L'Epoque Han et les Six Dynasties, vol. II, Paris and Brussels, 1929, pl. 118 (B), and another bronze tiger tally is illustrated by S.H. Hansford, The Seligman Collection of Oriental Art, vol. I, London, 1959, pl. XIX, A 29.