Tippoo’s Tiger

£1,380.00

Sold out

Categories: ,

Description

An early original automata by Paul Spooner, dated February 1986. It was among the first exhibits at Cabaret Mechanical Theatre in Covent Garden, London.

The text on the piece reads:
“One of the nastiest of human traits is to gloat over the suffering of others. Is the gloater unable to imagine himself in the victim’s place or is it from just such imaginings that he gets his pleasure?
The horrid roars of Tippoo’s Tiger and the shrieks of its prey greatly amused its first owner Tippoo Sultan of Mysore. After Tippoo’s death at the fall of Seringapatam in 1799 the tiger was bought to England where it can be seen – but seldom heard – at The V&A Museum.
Our small tableau draws a veil over the distressing meat course and shows the mighty diner extracting the last vestiges of of flavour from his victim’s braces.”

Rare Vintage Automata – In good working condition with some marks and wear due to age.
16cm x 17cm x 7cm
One-Off piece.

Our mission is to promote engineering and creativity through workshops, exhibitions and automata kits.

As a Community Interest Company all profits go toward this valuable work.

Cabaret Mechanical Theatre Learning CIC
Company Number: 14598590
© 2024 Cabaret Mechanical Theatre. All rights reserved.
Join Waitlist We will inform you when the product arrives in stock. Please leave your valid email address below.