Oct 11, 2021
Oct 24, 2011

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

Part of a set. See all set records

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)

Gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

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.)

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.43.a

Location

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.

Video

Tales of a Parrot
Daughter of the Jinns
See also

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