Artwork Page for Green Parrot

Details / Information for Green Parrot

Green Parrot

c. 1820

India, East India Company School

Medium
Gum tempera on paper
Measurements
Overall: 38.5 x 28.6 cm (15 3/16 x 11 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Edgar A. Hahn 1972.285
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

This painting was owned by a founding partner of Cleveland law firm Hahn Loeser & Parks.

Description

Made by an Indian artist for a British civil servant working in Calcutta (now Kolkata), this bird is portrayed with precision and brilliant color. It appears to be of the same type as Tuti, the protagonist of the early Mughal Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot) manuscript. This example, however, has a black beak, indicating she is female, while the male Tuti has a red beak. Though loosely translated as “parrot,” Tuti is technically a Lord Derby’s parakeet. Because of its ability to talk, the parrot often appears in Indo-Iranian tales as a messenger of moral wisdom.
A vertically oriented gum tempera painting in muted greens and grays depicts a detailed parrot on a cream background. Facing right, the bird perches on a diagonal brown branch with a blue-gray head, black collar, and pale pink breast. Green wings marked with yellow patches taper into long pale blue tail feathers. A leafy stem hangs at the top left, while handwritten script and the word "Cagilah" mark the bottom right.

Green Parrot

c. 1820

India, East India Company School

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