Sotheby's. Trésors de la Chine ancienne de la collection David David-Weill, Paris, 16 Dec 2015
Tigre en bronze en deux parties, hufu, Dynastie des Han
Lot 51. Tigre en bronze en deux parties, hufu, Dynastie des Han; 9,4 cm; 3 3/4 in. Estimation: 4,000 — 6,000 €. Lot vendu 363,000 €. Courtesy Sotheby's 2015.
Inscriptions:
Sur le poitrail: Yangxi hujun
Sous le corps: tong hufu zuo / tong hufu you
Sur le dos : Huangdi zi yangxi hujun tong hufu di san
Note: Tiger tallies were common in the late Warring States and Han periods. Their origins, uses and functions are discussed by Lothar von Falkenhausen,'The E Jun Qi Metal Tallies', in Martin Kern (ed.), Text and Ritual in Ancient China, Washington D.C., 2006, pp. 82-91. The 1929 Berlin Exhibition of Chinese Art included a bronze fitting of a crouching tiger similar if not identical in size and design to the present two pieces, see Otto Kuemmel, Ausstellung Chinesischer Kunst, Berlin, 1929, cat. no. 237.