The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 19, 2024

The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-seventh Night, form a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)

The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-seventh Night, form a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)

c. 1560
(reigned 1556–1605)
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Painting only: 10.5 x 10 cm (4 1/8 x 3 15/16 in.); Overall: 20.1 x 15.3 cm (7 15/16 x 6 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.185.a
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Khujasta has been drinking wine—evidenced by the bottles on the low table before her.

Description

Khujasta prepares herself each night to secretly meet her new lover, but before she is able to leave, her pet parrot Tuti cleverly entices her to stay with the tantalizing beginnings of a story. Tuti’s telling of the story takes all night, and by the time he reaches the end, it is too late for her rendezvous. A bowl of paan, areca nuts wrapped in betel leaves, has been set out for chewing, freshening breath, and its various pleasurable effects.
  • ?–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. 317 www.jstor.org
    Mace, Sonya Rhie, Mohsen Ashtiany, Catherine Glynn, Pedro Moura Carvalho, Marcus Fraser, and Ruby Lal. Mughal Paintings: Art and Stories: the Cleveland Museum of Art. London: D Giles Limited, 2016. p. 184
  • Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
  • {{cite web|title=The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-seventh Night, form a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=19 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.185.a