Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page (c. 1560): Art, History and Details

Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page (c. 1560) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

The text of this manuscript is written in the Persian language using a clear form of the Arabic script called naskh. On this page the parrot is feigning concern that Khujasta's lover might not be as highborn as he claims to be. The prose is interrupted with lines of verse written in the gold-outlined boxes and introduced in blue with the word qat'e, meaning cut, as though the verse is cutting into the story.

Object facts

• Title: Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
• Date: c. 1560
• Culture: Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
• 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: 1962.279.96.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.