The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Fifteenth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)

c. 1560

India, Mughal court, 16th century

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Medium

gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Measurements

Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 7.6 x 10 cm (3 x 3 15/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.112.a

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The stacked red jugs on the left are water pots.

Description

Panels of bold color are closely reminiscent of local Indian painting traditions, as seen in the page to the left. The artist here is experimenting with depicting three-dimensionality in the angled rendering of the bed, the placement of Khujasta’s feet on the plane of the floor, and the parrot who stands in the space of his cage. In comparison to the figures in The Sage Narada tells King Kamsa of Vishnu’s Impending Incarnation to the left, Khujasta’s gesture is less pertly angular, and her face has smaller features and gentler contours. Falsely encouraging her to go meet her lover, the parrot tells her that if she doesn’t go, and her husband returns, she would regret not having gone to see him just as the cat repented having killed the mice. She must then hear the story of why a cat would regret killing mice.