'The Death of Munrow': An Impressive Staffordshire Pearlware Table Base Group, Circa 1825-30
'The Death of Munrow': An Impressive Staffordshire Pearlware Table Base Group, Circa 1825-30
Attributed to the 'Sherratt' pot bank, modeled as a huge striped tiger his jaws clamped around the head of a British officer, whose lifeless body slumps over the edge of the table base, raised on six feet molded with swags, titled 'THE DEATH OF MUNROW', 10 1/2 in. (27.7cm) high, 12 1/2 in. (33cm) long
Footnotes:
In July 1793, the Gentleman's Magazine printed 'An Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend at Calcutta'. The letter detailed the extraordinary fate of a young Lieutenant Munro, who had been out stalking deer in Mysore the previous December. On that particular day the hunting party suddenly 'heard a roar, like thunder, and saw an immense Royal tiger spring on the unfortunate Munro'. The beast tore away into the jungle, dragging the officer by his head, reportedly 'with as much ease as I could lift a kitten'. Munro somehow managed to stumble back to the camp but died of his significant wounds twenty-four hours later.
The death of this 'amiable and promising youth' shook the British public to its core and the gruesome tale subsequently became inextricably linked to the famous wooden automaton 'Tippoo's Tiger'. Made for Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore from 1782 to 1799, the large model depicts a tiger mauling a European soldier. A handle not only causes the man's arm to lift up and down but an organ concealed in the belly of the beast plays noises intended to imitate his dying groans. Tipu Sultan's vehement resistance to British rule came to an end in 1799 when he was killed during the siege of Seringapatam. The automaton was discovered in the Palace and was shipped to London where it was put on display at the British East India Company's museum, eventually being transferred to the Victoria & Albert Museum, where it currently resides, accession no.2545(IS).
The public display of Tipu's Tiger was most likely the catalyst for the Staffordshire potters who were already developing a penchant for depicting exotic animals and scandalous scenes. An engraving by W Cooke formed the frontispiece of A Review of the Origin, Progress and Result of the Decisive War with the Late Tippoo Sultan in Mysore, published in 1800, and it seems likely that it was a version of this print that was adapted to become 'The Death of Munrow', the former providing the iconography.
Myrna Schkolne illustrates and discusses a similar Staffordshire 'Death of Munrow', see Holding The Past: The William Herbert and Nancy Hunt Collection, 2014, pp.65-67. Further models can be found in public collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession no.C.1-2007, the Fitzwilliam Museum, C.967-1928, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2016.129. An example was sold by Sotheby's on 7 April 2004, lot 15. Another from the Hope McCormick Collection, illustrated by Millie Manheim, 1980, pl.36, was subsequently sold by Christie's on 21 June 2003, lot 16.
For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Condition
There is restoration to the two feet of the table base at the end closest to the tiger's head. The base itself with green enamel upper surface which has been repainted but the base has not been broken, with encouraging fine crazing to the glaze visible to the underside. The figure of Munrow in relatively good condition, just both feet and his right shin with some restoration. The tiger also in remarkably good condition overall - the tail has been broken, possibly at three points and restored back into place but the majority of the original tail is present, with a little associated spray around its bottom and back where the tail touches. A few of the tiger's teeth on the upper row are restored. Otherwise, very minor points of touching-in to glaze flakes including to some of its nose and above one eye, a flake above its left shoulder and on its back left paw but these are insignificant, the vast majority of the animal remaining glossy and smooth.
Sale price
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
'The Death of Munrow': An Impressive Staffordshire Pearlware Table Base Group, Circa 1825-30
Attributed to the 'Sherratt' pot bank, modeled as a huge striped tiger his jaws clamped around the head of a British officer, whose lifeless body slumps over the edge of the table base, raised on six feet molded with swags, titled 'THE DEATH OF MUNROW', 10 1/2 in. (27.7cm) high, 12 1/2 in. (33cm) long
Footnotes:
In July 1793, the Gentleman's Magazine printed 'An Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend at Calcutta'. The letter detailed the extraordinary fate of a young Lieutenant Munro, who had been out stalking deer in Mysore the previous December. On that particular day the hunting party suddenly 'heard a roar, like thunder, and saw an immense Royal tiger spring on the unfortunate Munro'. The beast tore away into the jungle, dragging the officer by his head, reportedly 'with as much ease as I could lift a kitten'. Munro somehow managed to stumble back to the camp but died of his significant wounds twenty-four hours later.
The death of this 'amiable and promising youth' shook the British public to its core and the gruesome tale subsequently became inextricably linked to the famous wooden automaton 'Tippoo's Tiger'. Made for Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore from 1782 to 1799, the large model depicts a tiger mauling a European soldier. A handle not only causes the man's arm to lift up and down but an organ concealed in the belly of the beast plays noises intended to imitate his dying groans. Tipu Sultan's vehement resistance to British rule came to an end in 1799 when he was killed during the siege of Seringapatam. The automaton was discovered in the Palace and was shipped to London where it was put on display at the British East India Company's museum, eventually being transferred to the Victoria & Albert Museum, where it currently resides, accession no.2545(IS).
The public display of Tipu's Tiger was most likely the catalyst for the Staffordshire potters who were already developing a penchant for depicting exotic animals and scandalous scenes. An engraving by W Cooke formed the frontispiece of A Review of the Origin, Progress and Result of the Decisive War with the Late Tippoo Sultan in Mysore, published in 1800, and it seems likely that it was a version of this print that was adapted to become 'The Death of Munrow', the former providing the iconography.
Myrna Schkolne illustrates and discusses a similar Staffordshire 'Death of Munrow', see Holding The Past: The William Herbert and Nancy Hunt Collection, 2014, pp.65-67. Further models can be found in public collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, accession no.C.1-2007, the Fitzwilliam Museum, C.967-1928, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 2016.129. An example was sold by Sotheby's on 7 April 2004, lot 15. Another from the Hope McCormick Collection, illustrated by Millie Manheim, 1980, pl.36, was subsequently sold by Christie's on 21 June 2003, lot 16.
For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
Condition
There is restoration to the two feet of the table base at the end closest to the tiger's head. The base itself with green enamel upper surface which has been repainted but the base has not been broken, with encouraging fine crazing to the glaze visible to the underside. The figure of Munrow in relatively good condition, just both feet and his right shin with some restoration. The tiger also in remarkably good condition overall - the tail has been broken, possibly at three points and restored back into place but the majority of the original tail is present, with a little associated spray around its bottom and back where the tail touches. A few of the tiger's teeth on the upper row are restored. Otherwise, very minor points of touching-in to glaze flakes including to some of its nose and above one eye, a flake above its left shoulder and on its back left paw but these are insignificant, the vast majority of the animal remaining glossy and smooth.
Sale price
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
