The Tipu Tiger is an 18th-century mechanical toy created for Tipu Sultan , ruler of the Principality of Mysore in India . Carved from wood and painted, the case is an image of a tiger attacking a British soldier, made in almost full size. The mechanisms inside the tiger and human bodies allow one person’s hand to move, imitate the sounds of cries from the person’s mouth and growls from the mouth of the tiger. In addition, the flap on the side of the tiger contains the keypad of a small wind organ with 18 notes.
The tiger was created for Tipu on the basis of his personal emblem in the form of a tiger and expressed his hatred of his enemy, the British from the British East India Company . The tiger was discovered in its summer residence after troops of the East India Company stormed the capital at Tipu in 1799. The Governor-General, Lord Mornington, sent the tiger to the UK, initially intending to make it an exhibit in the Tower of London . First exhibited to the London public in 1808 in the East India House, then in the East India Company building in London, after the tiger was moved to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1880 (registration number 2545 (IS)) [1] . Currently, the toy is part of a permanent exhibition in the "imperial courts of South India" [2] . Since arriving in London to this day, Tipu Tiger has been a popular attraction for the public.
Mention of a mechanical tiger tormenting the Briton is in John Keats ' unfinished poem "Cap with bells."
Bibliography
- Brittlebank, Kate (May, 1995), "Sakti and Barakat: The Power of Tipu's Tiger. An Examination of the Tiger Emblem of Tipu Sultan of Mysore", Modern Asian Studies (Cambridge University Press). - T. 29.2: 257–269
- De Almeida, Hermione & Gilpin, George H. (2005), Indian Renaissance: British romantic art and the prospect of India , Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., ISBN 978-0-7546-3681-6 , < https: // books. google.com/books?id=Nu0j0GFSsDcC&pg=PA35&dq=tipu%27s+tiger&as_brr=3#v=onepage&q=tipu's%20tiger&f=false > . Retrieved July 16, 2011.
- Ord-Hume, Arthur (February 1987 - Part I, September 1987 - Part II), "Tipu's Tiger - its History and Description", Music and Automata T. 3.9, 3.10
- Stronge, Susan (2009), Tipu's Tigers , V&A Publishing, ISBN 1-85177-575-7
Notes
- ↑ Victoria & Albert Museum. Tipu's Tiger . London: Victoria & Albert Museum (2011). Date of treatment July 16, 2011. Archived October 2, 2012.
- ↑ Ivan. Reflections on the fate of Tippoo's Tiger - Defining cultures through public display // Cultural encounters: representing otherness / Ivan, Corinne A. .. - Routledge, 2000. - P. 194. - ISBN 978-0-415-20280-0 .