Tipu’s Tiger

This extraordinary piece is an example of late 18th Century automata. It was built for Tipu Sultan, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore at a time when the British East India Company army was occupied with expanding the British Empire in India. The image of the tiger was Tipu Sultan’s emblem, appearing in his palace decoration and on the uniforms of his soldiers, so it is significant that the tiger we see here is in the act of attacking and killing a European soldier. In 1799 Tipu Sultan’s resistance to British attack failed and he was both defeated and killed. The contents of his palace at Seringapatam were divided, and the tiger was transported to England where it has been an object of curiosity ever since.

On the outside of the tiger there is a winding handle which operates a set of bellows within. There is a flap which when lowered reveals a set of small ivory buttons. When the handle is continuously wound, air is forced through a set of tuned, upright pipes that are located inside the tiger, and which can be seen when the top half of the tiger is lifted off. Like the keys of a pipe organ, the buttons control which pipe makes a sound and so it is perfectly possible to play melodies on this unusual device.

The automata also makes other, more gruesome sounds: when the handle is wound air is pushed through the unfortunate man’s throat, mimicking his cries as the tiger attacks, and his left arm mechanism moves his hand over and then away from his mouth creating a pitch distortion, the resultant effect of which is a disembodied sound that is quite spectral. At the same time air is pushed through the tiger’s head introducing another sound into the mix which mimics the grunting of the tiger. There is a rhythmic quality to it that creates a kind of mesmerising, nightmarish picture where the tiger is forever attacking and the man is forever dying!

This amazing item can be seen at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England, and I would recommend visiting the website if you can in order to hear the sounds for yourself!

- Sarah

P.S. Here you can watch how this pipe organ sounds (and how big it is!).

Dear Sarah's brother, happy birthday! :)