The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of May 1, 2024
Nikfal, the fortune of the prince in the form of a woman, offers to accompany him, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
c. 1560
(reigned 1556–1605)
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 11.2 x 10.3 cm (4 7/16 x 4 1/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.132.a
Location: not on view
Did You Know?
The animals in the background indicate that the scene is set in the wilderness.Description
The good fortune of the dervish that the prince purchased with his ring appeared to him in the form of a beautiful woman named Nikfal, meaning “Good Fortune.” The pair converse amiably in a grassy meadow full of deer under a lapis lazuli–blue sky with gold arabesque motifs. She wears Indian garments, while the prince is dressed as a Mughal in Central Asian garments. The story is said to take place in Zabulistan, in western Afghanistan.- ?–1959Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD1959–1962?(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, OHProvenance Footnotes1 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.
- Chandra, Pramod, and Daniel J. Ehnbom. The Cleveland Tuti-Nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1976. p. 79Nakhshabī, Z̤iyāʼ al-Dīn, and Muhammed Ahmed Simsar. Tales of a Parrot = The Cleveland Museum of Art's Ṭūṭīnāma. Cleveland: The Museum, 1978. Trans. pp. 124-129Seyller, 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).
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Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.132.a