Collection of Professor D.🎃M.S. Watson (1886-1973).

Sotheby's London, 9th October 1965, lot 29.

Collection of Dr Wou Kiuan (1910-1997).

Wou Lien-Pa𒊎i Museum, 1968-present, coll. no. H.2.13.

D.M.S. 沃特森教授 (1886-1973) 收藏

倫敦蘇富比1965年10月9日，編號29

吳權博士 (1910-1997) 收藏

吳蓮伯博物院，1968年至今，編號H2.13

Rose Kerr et al., Chinese Antiquities from the Wou Kiuan Collection. Wou Lien-Pai Museum, Hong Kong, 2011, pl. 32.

柯玫瑰等，《Chinese Antiquities from t💛he Wou Kiuan Collection. Wou Lien-Pai Museum》，香港，2011年，圖版32

Tiger tallies (hufu) were originally produced during the Warring States and Q🐠in dynasty to bestow Imperial authority. Composed of two equal parts, one half remained in the hand of the king whilst 🔯the other was given to his general. It was only when a messenger brought the king's half and combined the two could the authority of a general be activated. 

Yielding the power of a king to whoever possessed them, tiger tallies have remained enigmatic tokens of imperial authority. A small number of inscribed tiger tallies from the period are known, such as the famous example bearing the same twelve-character inscription as the present lot, the Yangling hufu, attributed to the Qin dynasty, formerly in the collection Luo Zhenyu (1866-1940) now in the National Museum of China, illustrated in Zhonghua Wenming [Chinese Civilisation], Beijing, 2010, pl. 267. The casting of the present lot is more similar to the Dongjun hufu 東郡虎符, discovered in Shaanxi in 1953, and currently in the Zhouzhi County Cultural R🐠elic Institution.