The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 1, 2022

The king places the talisman on his sleeping wife, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fiftieth Night

c. 1560

Part of a set. See all set records

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)

Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper

Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 11 x 10.8 cm (4 5/16 x 4 1/4 in.)

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.323.a

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The king believes that the talisman is made of King Solomon’s amulets.

Description

The king, believing that his wife has carried on an affair with a slave, acquires a talisman that will make her tell the truth. She reveals that the young man is not her lover, but her son from a former marriage. In reality, the talisman is not magic but is instead part of a plan to prove the wife’s innocence.

Provenance
Estate of Breckenridge Long, Bowie, MD, 1959; Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA; Bernard Brown, Milwaukee, WI;
Citations
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, 148
Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.323.a