‘Tipu’s Tiger’ is an awesome, life-size beast of carved and
painted wood, seen in the act of devouring a prostrate European
in the costume of the 1790s. It has cast a spell over
generations of admirers since 1808, when it was first displayed
in the East India Company’s museum. Concealed in the bodywork is
a mechanical pipe-organ with several parts, all operated
simultaneously by a crank-handle emerging from the tiger’s
shoulder. Turning the handle pumps … bellows and controls the
air-flow to simulate the growls of the tiger and cries of the
victim. Tipu Sultan, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in India
for whom the automaton was built, identified himself with
tigers; his personal epithet was ‘The Tiger of Mysore,’ his
soldiers were dressed in ‘tyger’ jackets, his personal symbol
invoked a tiger’s face through clever use of calligraphy and the
tiger motif is visible on his throne, and other objects in his
personal possession [Source]. The death of a young Englishman
named Munro carried off by a man-eating ti