The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

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

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

c. 1560
(reigned 1556–1605)
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 7.9 x 10.2 cm (3 1/8 x 4 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.130.b
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The medallion pattern of Khujasta’s skirt is a convention of an earlier painting style

Description

When like a red-turbaned king the sun disappeared under the canopy in the west and like a silver-robed monarch the moon appeared on the throne in the east, Khujasta went to ask Tuti’s permission to leave.
The parrot replied that his mistress Khujasta should devote herself to her obligations of propriety, just like the three extraordinary companions of the prince. Her interest piqued, Khujasta asked Tuti to tell her about them. He then launched into a story about the benefits of loyalty and generosity that lasted all night.
  • ?–1959
    Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD
    1959–1962?
    (Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA)
    1959?–1962
    (Bernard Brown Agency, Milwaukee, WI, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Purchased with funds from Mrs. A. Dean [Helen Wade Greene] Perry)
    1962–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    Provenance Footnotes
    1 Samuel Miller Breckinridge Long (May 16, 1881–September 26, 1958) was an American diplomat and politician, who served in the administrations of Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Long is largely remembered for his obstructionist role as the Assistant Secretary of State responsible for granting refugee visas during World War II. His interests included the collection of antiques, paintings and American ship models. He maintained a stable of Thoroughbred race horses and was a director of the Laurel Park Racecourse in Laurel, Maryland, and he enjoyed fox hunting, fishing, and sailing.
  • Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 315 www.jstor.org
  • Animal Fables of India (Indian art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 12-August 29, 2021).
  • {{cite web|title=The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Eighteenth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.130.b