A large-scale polychrome carving of an attendant bearer holding a kittasol (parasol/umbrella) for the figurehead from the 46-gun Fifth Rate frigate HMS Seringapatam (1819). It is a piece of Indian work carved in teak. An article in the 'The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Miscellany'. v.9 (Jan-June 1820, pp 306-7) records '...a new frigate, called the Seringapatam, built for his Majesty's service, and pierced for 46 guns, was floated out of Bombay dock...The carving work on the prow appears chiefly designed in compliment to the natives of Hindoostan, and represents the Mysore Raja, attended by his kittasol bearer.'

Previously thought to be the figurehead of Tipu Sultan (1750-1799), the attendant is wearing a red and white patterned top and a red, white, and blue turban. He is holding the kittasol in his left hand, with the metal shaft resting on the back of an eagle. Across India, the Far East, and Africa, the umbrella (or kittasol) was a symbol of royal power under which a sultan would have paraded.

The eagle was originally assumed to represent a Roc, a mythical eagle-like bird closely links to the stories of Sindbad (the Sailor) in the 'Thousand and One Arabian Nights', but it is now believed to be a later addition to the current figurehead. The eagle is made of pine, indicating that this part of the composition was probably made in Britain and the two carvings put together when the attendant was transferred to Devonport after the ship was broken up.

HMS Seringapatam was named after the battle in 1799 during which Tipu Sultan, the last ruler of Mysore, was finally defeated by the combined forces of the British East India Company (under Sir David Baird) and the Nizam of Hyderabad. Tipu and his father, Haider Ali, fought a series of wars against the advancing East India Company. The frigate ended up a receiving ship in 1847 and in 1852 a coal hulk at the Cape of Good Hope, where it was broken up in 1873. It is not known why the attendant bearer was saved but not the figurehead of Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore.

The attendant piece is Indian work made of teak. Two parts of the figurehead, possibly replaced in conservation, have ID numbers FHD0102.1 and FHD0102.2 and can be found under the toggle next to the WHOLE/PART field.