Figurine depicting Mr Hugh Munro being mauled by a Bengal tiger, December 1792

Earthenware, manufacturer unknown, probably Staffordshire, 1800 (c).

This pottery group is based on the true story of Hugh Munro, the eldest son of the Scottish General Sir Hector Munro. When his ship anchored at Saugur island, off the coast of India near Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1792, Hugh Munro went ashore to shoot deer for sport. He was walking along the edge of thick jungle when a large tiger sprang out and seized him by the head and neck. Although Munro's companions managed to frighten the animal away, he was left badly wounded and died later.

The incident captured public imagination and there is more than one ceramic version of Munro's death (with and without a leg). It also inspired the famous mechanical musical toy known as 'Tippoo's Tiger' (Victoria and Albert Museum). Tigers were the personal symbol of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore. It is ironic that Sir Hector Munro was one of those who defeated him and his father, Haidar Ali, in 1781.