Tipus tiger
Tipus Tiger (also: Tippus Tiger ) is a mechanical automaton manufactured in Mysore at the end of the 18th century . It shows a tiger attacking a European soldier or employee of the British East India Company and creates appropriate noises and movements.
description
The approximately 71 cm high and 172 cm long ensemble was made around 1795 for Tipu Sultan in Mysore, who used tiger emblems in various ways to decorate jewelry, weapons and pieces of furniture. Tipu Sultan, ruler of the southern Indian city of Mysore, had fought several wars against the British and actively sought a military alliance with the French. He was also referred to as the tiger of Mysore , who would rather live a tiger for two days than a sheep for two hundred years .
The figures of tigers and Europeans themselves are made of painted wood with some metal outlets for noise generation. The bronze used in the pipes comes from local sources; French influence is suspected in the mechanics, which is consistent with the strong French presence at Tipu Sultan's court.
The machine is driven with a crank. Similar to a mechanical jukebox , various combinations of bellows and whistles are used in connection with moving parts. Wailing noises come from the victim's mouth and his left arm moves up and down; this changes the pitch of the wailing. Two more pipes let out a roar from the tiger's mouth. In the tiger's belly there is a small organ - keyboard with 18 keys.
History of origin
The collection of mechanical musical instruments was not uncommon at Indian royal courts at that time, especially at Tipu's Tiger is a common embodiment of Tipu Sultan's hatred of the English and his preference for the emblematic use of the predator.
The background of the very special depiction is probably the death of Hugh Munro, son of the Scottish general Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar. Sir Hector had inflicted a crushing defeat on Tipu Sultan during the Second Mysore War . His son was attacked and killed by a tiger on December 22, 1792 on the island of Saugor. Tipu had had to sign a humiliating peace treaty in 1793; the news of the death of one of his hated enemies possibly gave the idea for the character. Munro's death also met with a stir in England and was immortalized as and on knick-knacks made from Staffordshire porcelain.
Remaining after 1799
During the storming of Shrirangapattanas in the Fourth Mysore War , Tipu Sultan was killed by British troops on May 4, 1799 and the tiger was captured in a music room in the palace. The final defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Mysore Wars was the subject of a large number of contemporary depictions, including in the context of important panoramic pictures and a large number of engravings and illustrations. Richard Colley-Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley , described the tiger as an example of Tipu Sultan's arrogance and barbaric cruelty and suggested that it be displayed in the Tower of London . The British East India Company decided to keep the tiger and not give it to the British Crown. In 1808 it was first exhibited in the East India Company Museum in Leadenhall Street , London . Today the tiger can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London .
Other mentions
The poet John Keats referred to the automaton in his poem " The Cap and Bells " (The Bell Cap , translated by Paul Celan ). In the poem, a fortune teller comes to the court of the Emperor Elfinan. He hears a strange noise that he thinks is the emperor's snoring, but in reality it is the sound of the man and tiger organ, Tipu Sultan's favorite toy.
The artist Bill Reid was inspired by Tipus Tiger to create the sculpture Bunny eating an astronomer .
Web links
- Victoria & Albert Museum: Article on Tipus Tiger with video
- Victoria & Albert Museum: Entry in the object database
- Use of tigers as Tipu's emblems
- Engl. Biography of Tipus and history of Mysore
- Information about the Tiger in the Mechanical Music Digest
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tippoo's Tiger. (No longer available online.) In: The Tiger and the Thistle - Tipu Sultan and the Scots in India. The National Galleries of Scotland. Archived from the original on February 6, 2008 ; Retrieved September 26, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ 'In this world I would rather live two days like a tiger, than two hundred years like a sheep.' - Tipu Sultan, BBC British history , quoted there from Alexander Beatson, A View of the Origin and Conduct of the War with Tippoo Sultan, 1800
- ^ Tippoo's Tiger by Mildred Archer, Victoria & Albert Museum, 1959
- ↑ a b c d e Veronica Murphy: Tipu's Tiger. ( Memento of March 17, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Article on the Victoria and Albert Museum website
