The fourth man digs at the spot where he dropped the shell, expecting jewels, but discovering mere iron, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-seventh Night (c. 1560): Art, History and Details

The fourth man digs at the spot where he dropped the shell, expecting jewels, but discovering mere iron, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-seventh Night (c. 1560) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

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

Against a rocky landscape, a lone man raises a pickaxe. Previously, he and his four friends had received shells from a wise man, who claimed they would lead the men to their fortunes. Three of the friends discovered copper, silver, and gold. The fourth man, however, was dissatisfied with the discovery of iron, and his greed ultimately led to his downfall.

Object facts

• Title: The fourth man digs at the spot where he dropped the shell, expecting jewels, but discovering mere iron, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-seventh Night
• 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.); Painting only: 9.6 x 10 cm (3 3/4 x 3 15/16 in.)
• Collection: Indian Art
• Department: Indian and Southeast Asian Art
• Accession number: 1962.279.302.b

A detail from the museum

A bear, hiding among the rocks on the left, prepares to drop a stone on a spotted creature below him.

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.