A Lion and a Tiger Fighting

1799 BRITISH LION &amp INDIAN TIGER Pair of superb allegorical prints by James Ward representing the conflicts in the first three of four Mysore wars fought between the British East India Company and the Kingdom of Mysore led by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. Tipu was later to be known as the &#8220Tiger of Mysore&#8221 and he used the symbol of the Tiger extensively on his palaces, flag,and weapons. In the first print the Indian Tiger is disturbed by a wary and sulking British Lion whilst feeding on a small deer or antelope. Prominently positioned in the immediate foreground is a skull from a previous kill, alluding to previous victories by the Kingdom of Mysore against the British and it&#8217s neighbouring states. In the first Mysore war 1766-1769 Hyder Ali defeated the British whose aspirations to further the English East India Company&#8217s territories were a dealt a severe blow. In the second war 1780-1784, Tipu again defeated the British and their allies. The war ended in 1784 with the Treaty of Mangalore in which both sides agreed to restore the others’ lands to that of their original status prior to the war. In the Third Mysore War 1789-1792 Tipu was resoundingly defeated and with the signing of the Treaty of Seringapatam, the Kingdom of Mysore was forced to surrender half it&#8217s territories. Contests between Lions and Tigers were often conducted in the Colossuem in Rome, it is recorded that rarely did the Lion win, being much smaller and less powerful than the tiger. The second print, The Lion and Tiger Fighting&#8221, celebrates the British victory over the Tipu Sultan and the final resistance against the expansion of the East India Company&#8217s sprawling trading empire in India. The mezzotint process is fascinating and unique among the printing techniques in that entire plate is initially prepared by roughening to a texture similar to sandpaper. This forms tiny troughs and peaks in the metal which will hold a rich supply of ink, and if printed at this stage would show an even velvety black over the entire print. The image is then created by selectively burnishing areas of the surface of the plate, the smoother the surface the lighter it will print. The gradation in light to dark is hence dependent on the textural differences the burnishing tool creates on the metal plate. Colour printed mezzotints are amongst the rarest of all English prints and were always issued in very small numbers due to this laborious preparation of the printing plate and the fragile burrs. Gascoigne, Bamber How to Identify Prints 1986 16.a -16.c Mitchell, Sally The Dictionary of Equestrian Artists 1985 Pg 442-445