he son of Hugh Munro of Novar, Cromartyshire, Hector Munro enlisted
with Loudons' Highlanders in 1747, at the age of 21. He fought in the
Low Countries and Ireland before embarking for India with the 89th
Regiment of Foot in December 1760, arriving at Bombay in November 1761.
Three years later, at Buxar, Munro faced the forces of Mir Kasim and
Shah Alam II - some 50,000 men. Although hopelessly outnumbered, Munro
and 7,000 soldiers from the Bengal Presidency were victorious, thus
establishing British power in Bengal. Munro went on to take Pondicherry
from the French in 1778, and was knighted in 1779. However, his indecision
at Pollilur the following year precipitated
one of the greatest military disasters the British had known: the near
annihilation of Baillie's detachment and a grim sentence in Tipu's
prisons for any survivors. Munro fought under General Sir Eyre
Coote in 1781, when British confidence was restored with a significant
victory on 1st July at Porto Novo.
Munro returned to his native North Briton, where he was
well respected as a benificent and public-spirited country
gentleman. Much time was spent enlarging and improving his
estate, and a Plan of the Mains of Novar shows that the
field names still current in 1771 were changed in 1788 to
'Buxar Park';' Madras Park';'Mount Delly'; 'Calcutta Park.'
Scots back from India often felt themselves 'exiles' in
Scotland, so far away from the intense heat, vast landscapes,
numerous deities and languages, exotic courts and palaces
of India. Munro also received a cruel reminder of India's
dangers: his son was savaged by a tiger while picnicing
on Saugur Island, in December 1792, and died of his wounds.
The fatal catastrophe was reported in detail in The
Scots Magazine of July 1793, and as far away as Philadelphia
by 1804.
Portrait medallions such as this were intended to evoke the antique
cameos and gems of Classical Greece and Rome, and were produced in
a vitreous glass paste, in imitation of the antique. The formula for
this paste was invented by James Tassie, of Pollokshaws, near Glasgow,
working in Dublin with a physician and Professor of Physics, Henry
Quin. Tassie had already studied modelling at the Foulis Academy, Glasgow,
and from Quin he learned the art of manufacturing imitation gems and
cameos. Tassie moved to London in 1766, to develop this business, and
continued to supply Scottish clients and patrons, both with 'gems'
and with portrait cameos. From about 1769, he was also supplying casts
to the Wedgwood, and a complete collection of his pastes, gems and
cameos was dispatched (c.1783) to that voracious collector, Catherine
the Great of Russia. By 1791, the 'Catalogue of a general collection
of ancient and modern gems, cameos as well as intaglios, taken from
the most celebrated cabinets in Europe…by James Tassie, modeller…'
included descriptions of 15,800 items.
From about 1785, Tassie had employed Rudolph Eric Raspe
(1737-1794), to catalogue his extensive and expanding collection,
and Raspe published an initial Account of the collection
in 1786. A man of many talents, Raspe had also edited a
text of 'The Travels and Surprising Adventures of Baron
Munchausen,' (1785) in which the Baron juggles with canon
balls hurled at him by Tipu; unseats Tipu from his elephant;
fights Tipu hand-to-hand and finally kills Tipu with a single
blow of the sword. Among the illustrations 'from the Baron's
designs', three relate to these episodes, including 'The
Baron besieges Seringapatam.' Thus Raspe, the cataloguer,
Tassie, the modeller, and Munro, the sitter, not only share
professional associations, but also their associations with
Tipu, Seringapatam and the Mysore Wars.
