Tipu's iTiger App

Tipu’s Tiger is one of the V&A’s most enduringly famous and fascinating objects. It was commissioned in the 1790s by Tipu Sultan of Mysore, who kept the spectacular wooden semi-automaton in the music room of his palace. Concealed in the bodywork of the object is a mechanical pipe-organ with several parts, all operated simultaneously by a crank-handle emerging from the tiger's shoulder. Inside the tiger and the man underneath him are weighted bellows with pipes attached. Turning the handle pumps the bellows and controls the air-flow to simulate the growls of the tiger and cries of the victim. The cries are varied by the approach of the hand towards the mouth and away, as the left arm - the only moving part - is raised and lowered. Another pair of bellows, linked to the same handle, supplies wind for a miniature organ of 18 pipes built into the tiger, with stops under the tail.

Our fun interactive Tipu's iTiger App is available FREE for iPhone and iPod Touch. Play the organ within the tiger's body to create your own terrifying masterpieces, with a choice of three different groups of keyboards and sounds. The beautiful three-dimensional model of Tipu's Tiger allows you to get closer to the object than you can in the Museum. You can easily zoom in and out, and move around the object, to see it up close and from almost any angle.

The app is available FREE for your iPhone or iPod Touch from the iTunes Store.

Click here to download