16 Tiger Muzzle of Cannon

©Anne Buddle

Tipu Cannon Bronze, cast and chased, with tiger-head muzzle, trunnions and cascabel button. length : 170cm (approx.) Mysore, late 18 century, now at the Government Museum, Madras.

		ipu established at Bangalore a foundry for brass cannon, an arsenal and powder magazines. At Seringapatam, Major Alexander Beatson recorded 11 powder magazines; 72 expence magazines and 2 foundries for cannon. A contemporary writer noted that 'in the Sultaun's own foundry (where) a degree of perfection has been attained in every stage of the process, truly astonishing to those of our officers who visited the different workshops.' After the Fall of Seringapatam in 1799, a formidable arsenal of ordnance was recorded on the island: 929 pieces in the fort, of which 287 were mounted on it. A number of these were European pieces, but 202 of the 373 brass guns; 10 of the 11 howitzers and 6 of the 466 iron guns were identified as the products of Tipu's workshops. A captured tiger cannon, supporting Lieutenant Farquhar, is clearly visible in the left foreground of Ker Porter's panoramic oil painting, 'The Storming of Seringapatam.'