Artwork Page for The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Seventh Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)

Details / Information for The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Seventh Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)

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

c. 1560

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)
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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: 9 x 10 cm (3 9/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.43.a
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

This miniature displays an intermingling of various pre-Akbar idioms in the Mughal atelier.

Description

Every night for 52 nights the sly domesticated parrot encourages his master’s wife Khujasta to meet her lover under cover of darkness. Just before she leaves, the parrot mentions a topic from a tantalizing tale; she becomes so curious that she cannot go out before hearing the whole story. By the time the story ends, dawn breaks, and it is too late for her to go out unnoticed. The artist who painted this page was still firmly entrenched in the idioms of pre-Mughal painting.
A book page features bands of black Persian script above and below a painting of a woman with light skin tone gesturing toward a green parrot in a red cage on our left. She wears an orange top, a purple patterned skirt, and a sheer veil. She stands between two pink and yellow buildings; the interior on our right holds patterned pillows and bowls. Dark hills and blue sky sit beyond.

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

c. 1560

Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)

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