The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 29, 2026

A vertically oriented manuscript page features black Persian calligraphy above a painting of a woman with light skin tone facing right. She wears a blue patterned top and yellow skirt while gesturing toward a green parrot perched atop a gold cage. The flattened architectural scene includes a pink-roofed structure, red fence, and vibrant geometric and floral floor patterns. A dark background emphasizes the figure against the colorful, ornate setting.

The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the forty-first night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-first Night

c. 1560

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: 9.8 x 10 cm (3 7/8 x 3 15/16 in.)
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.263.a
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Khujasta has braided jasmine flowers into her hair.

Description

On the forty-first of fifty-two nights, Khujasta consults Tuti the parrot for advice on how to balance her lover’s wishes with her vow of marriage. Tuti, perched atop his cage, responds by telling her a story about a donkey who was punished for singing too brazenly.
  • ?–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.
  • Chandra, Pramod, and Daniel J. Ehnbom. The Cleveland Tuti-Nama Manuscript and the Origins of Mughal Painting. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1976. pp. 79, 141
  • {{cite web|title=The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the forty-first night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-first Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=29 October 2026|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.263.a