Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page (1558–60): Art, History and Details

Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page (1558–60) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Many of the illustrations from the latter portion of the book reveal more confidence in naturalistic spatial renderings. The space of the courtyard, roof, bedroom niche, and the dimensionality of the parrot’s perch are all more convincing than those of the Fifteenth Night on the wall to the left. On this night the parrot is telling Khujasta that he is worried about whether or not her lover is of noble ancestry. She asked him how she could find out his true lineage. The parrot answered that he would eventually betray himself by his speech or behavior, if he were of low breeding. He then told the story about the donkey in a lion’s skin.

Object facts

• Title: Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
• Date: 1558–60
• Culture: India, Mughal court, 16th century
• Type: Painting
• Technique: gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
• Dimensions: Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.279.203.a

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.