Early 20th Century British Indian Taxidermy Bengal Tiger Skin, attributed to Van Ingen & Van Ingen

Early 20th Century British Indian Taxidermy Bengal Tiger Skin, attributed to Van Ingen & Van Ingen of Mysore, circa 1938-1944, with full head mount, glass eyes and open mouth in snarling pose, on blue canvas backing, partial typed label to the back 'S.No..../145, Capt. P....ett, Royal....rs, Ra...', 315cm long

Provenance: Shot by Capt. P M Bennett of the Royal Engineers, while on a hunt during an army posting in British India during the final years of the Raj. Hence by decent to his daughter.

Footnote: Capt. P M Bennett was posted to the NW Frontier (In modern day Pakistan) in 1938, later he served in Bangalore and then onto Burma (Now known as The People's Republic of Myanmar) and Malaya. His obituary was published in the Royal Engineers Journal in August 1994, which gives a short history of his army service. He was mentioned in Despatches in December 1942 while Captain Bennett, progressing onto Major Bennett by the end of the war and finally retiring some years later as Lt Colonel Bennett. The vendor's family archive contains photographs of the tiger hunt showing Indian hunt servants and the shot tiger, the family also have the four tiger skinning tools which were given to Capt. Bennett after the hunt which are included with the lot. The hunt must have taken place during the dates Capt. Bennett was stationed in India, from 1938-44. By family repute the hunt occurred around the time he was stationed in Bangalore, circa 1942-43.