A mechanical link causes the man's left arm to rise and fall. This produces a wailing sound, simulating the cries of distress of the victim. A set of bellows expels air through a pipe inside the man's throat, with its opening at his mouth. The operation of a crank handle powers several different mechanisms inside Tipu's Tiger. The human figure is clearly in European costume, but authorities differ as to whether it represents a soldier or civilian the current text on the V&A website avoids specifying, other than describing the figure as "European". Examination and analysis by the V&A conservation department has determined that much of the current paint has been restored or overpainted. The construction of the human figure is similar but the wood is much thicker.
The top part of the tiger's body can be lifted off to inspect the mechanics by removing four screws. There are many openings at the head end, formed to match the pattern of the inner part of the painted tiger stripes, which allow the sounds from the pipes within to be heard better, and the tiger is "obviously male". It is typically about half an inch thick, and now much reinforced on the inside following bomb damage in World War II. The painted wooden shell forming both figures likely draws upon South Indian traditions of Hindu religious sculpture. With overall dimensions for the object of 71.2 centimetres (28.0 in) high and 172 centimetres (68 in) long, the man at least is close to life-size. Tipu's Tiger is notable as an example of early musical automata from India, and also for the fact that it was especially constructed for Tipu Sultan. Tipu was in " close co-operation" with the French, who were at war with Britain and still had a presence in South India, and some of the French craftsmen who visited Tipu's court probably contributed to the internal works of the tiger.
Many of these were painted by Tipu's orders on the external walls of houses in the main streets of Tipu's capital, Seringapatam. The tiger formed part of a specific group of large caricature images commissioned by Tipu showing European, often specifically British, figures being attacked by tigers or elephants, or being executed, tortured and humiliated and attacked in other ways. Hyder, after initially trying to ally with the British against the Marathas, had later become their firm enemy, as they represented the most effective obstacle to his expansion of his kingdom, and Tipu grew up with violently anti-British feelings. Tipu had inherited power from his father Hyder Ali, a Muslim soldier who had risen to become dalwai or commander-in-chief under the ruling Hindu Wodeyar dynasty, but from 1760 was in effect the ruler of the kingdom. His throne rested upon a probably similar life-size wooden tiger, covered in gold like other valuable treasures it was broken up for the highly organised prize fund shared out between the British army. Tipu Sultan used the tiger systematically as his emblem, employing tiger motifs on his weapons, on the uniforms of his soldiers, and on the decoration of his palaces. Tipu's Tiger was originally made for Tipu Sultan (also referred to as Tippoo Saib, Tippoo Sultan and other epithets in nineteenth-century literature) in the Kingdom of Mysore (today in the Indian state of Karnataka) around 1795. Tipu's Tiger with the organ keyboard visible From the moment it arrived in London to the present day, Tipu's Tiger has been a popular attraction to the public. It now forms part of the permanent exhibit on the "Imperial courts of South India". First exhibited to the London public in 1808 in East India House, then the offices of the East India Company in London, it was later transferred to the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in 1880 (accession number 2545(IS)). The Governor General, Lord Mornington sent the tiger to Britain initially intending it to be an exhibit in the Tower of London. The tiger was discovered in his summer palace after East India Company troops stormed Tipu's capital in 1799. The tiger was created for Tipu and makes use of his personal emblem of the tiger and expresses his hatred of his enemy, the British of the East India Company. In addition a flap on the side of the tiger folds down to reveal the keyboard of a small pipe organ with 18 notes. Mechanisms inside the tiger and man's bodies make one hand of the man move, emit a wailing sound from his mouth and grunts from the tiger. The carved and painted wood casing represents a tiger savaging a near life-size European man. Tipu's Tiger or Tippu's Tiger is an eighteenth-century automaton or mechanical toy created for Tipu Sultan, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in India. Tipu's Tiger in the V&A Museum, London showing the prostrate European being attacked