SET OF TWO CHROMOLITHOGRAPHS ON TIPPOO SULTAN
a) William Gibb
Jewelled Bird from the Throne of Tippoo Sultan
Circa 1896-97
Chromolithograph on paper
Print size: 12 x 7.25 in (30.5 x 18.7 cm)
Sheet size: 14.75 x 10 in (37.2 x 25.7 cm)
With descriptive letter press at the back. Jewelled bird from the top of the golden canopy covering the Throne of Tippoo Sultan. Also shown is the Jewelled seal of the Sultan.
The defeat and death of Tipu, Sultan of Mysore, in 1799, as well as the sack of his citadel of Seringapatam, brought an end to more than a decade of struggle in southern India, and foreshadowed a probable military alliance between Tipu and Napoleon Bonaparte. The British soldiers plundered the Sultan's beautiful treasury and library during the fighting, and the gold covers of his throne were chopped up into little pieces for distribution as reward. The throne, which Tipu may never have climbed in state, was an octagonal timber platform erected 1.2 metres (4 feet) above the ground on eight tiger-leg supports. It was enclosed by a fence with a miniature jewelled tiger head above each support and topped by a canopy erected on a rear post. A life-size tiger head stood in the foreground (later presented to William IV, now at Windsor Castle). Each piece was covered in 2 mm (1/16 inch) gold sheet. The huma, or bird of paradise, soared above the canopy. This print is an illustration of the actual jewellery piece.
Captain Macaulay (Private Secretary to the British Commander-in-Chief, General Harris) said in a letter to the Governor-General of India, Lord Mornington, in July 1799, that the huma was 'supposed to fly constantly in the Air, and never to touch the ground. It is looked upon as a Bird of happy Omen, and that every Head it overshadows will in time wear a Crown'. After the breaking of the throne the huma had already been awarded upon the dissolution of the kingdom when it was reacquired by Mornington, now Lord Mornington, Captain Macaulay for presentation to George III. Paul Storr built the stand for it when the King handed over the huma to the Queen Mary in 1935.
Provenance of the actual piece:
Made for Tipu Sultan; acquired by Marquess Wellesley for the Directors of the East India Company, 1799; by whom presented to George III, 1800; by whom given to Queen Charlotte; by whom bequeathed to four of her daughters, 1818; by whom given to George IV, 1818
b) William Gibb
Tippoo Sultan’s Gun
Circa 1896-97
Chromolithograph on paper
Print size: 12 x 7.25 in (30.5 x 18.7 cm)
Sheet size: 14.75 x 10 in (37.2 x 25.7 cm)
With descriptive letter press at the back.
This elaborately ornamented fowling-piece was found at Seringapatam among the possessions of Tippoo Sultan. The barrel is polygonal at the muzzle, round in the centre, and octagonal at the breech; a rib of gilt metal runs along the upper surface broken by three perforated bands set with precious stones, and enriched with elaborate gilt ornament.
There is a projecting silver sight near the centre of the barrel; the lock is of a richly decorated design. The trigger-guard and heel-plate are of silver enriched in plates with embossed work of gold.
The stock is of walnut most richly inlaid with designs in silver. On the sides of the butt are panels containing heads of apostles or prophets, surrounded by a nimbus, and above these panels are the half-length figures of bishops engraved in a similar manner.
In a letter preserved in an old inventory of the Armoury at Carlton House, it is said that this gun was presented to Tippoo by the King of Spain. It seems probable, however, that it was brought to India earlier, as by the character of the work and ornamentation, it must have been made in the Peninsula towards the beginning of the seventeenth century. - From the Royal Collection, Windsor Castle.
William Gibb was a 19th/20th century Scottish landscape artist, book illustrator and lithographer. He was elder brother to the artist Robert Gibb.
(Set of two)
These works will be shipped unframed
NON-EXPORTABLE