The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 25, 2021

The king’s handmaiden takes the prince away to the harem, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

c. 1560

Part of a set. See all set records

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: 9.2 x 10 cm (3 5/8 x 3 15/16 in.)

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.55.a

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

The pink underdrawing is visible in places where the paint has chipped away.

Description

An infatuated handmaiden, wearing a sari and veil, leads the young prince away from the seated king. The king and his viziers have agreed to send the prince to the harem in hopes that he will speak in a more relaxed environment.

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, 98
Nakhshabī, Z̤iyāʼ al-Dīn, and Muhammed Ahmed Simsar. Tales of a Parrot = The Cleveland Museum of Art's Ṭūṭīnāma. Cleveland: The Museum, 1978. p. 55-68
Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 311 www.jstor.org
Exhibition history

Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); December 31, 2013 - June 30, 2014.

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.55.a