The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of October 7, 2024

The prince rejects the amorous advances of the king’s handmaiden, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

The prince rejects the amorous advances of the king’s handmaiden, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

c. 1560
(reigned 1556–1605)
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 7.6 x 9.9 cm (3 x 3 7/8 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The prince is only thirteen-years-old in the story.

Description

Once the handmaiden got the prince to her rooms, she suggested they have an affair and professed her secret feelings for him. He rebuffed her in silence and departed, disgusted. Insulted and afraid of what the prince might tell the king, she accused the prince of having attempted to rape her. The king then sentenced the prince to death. The handmaiden wears an Indian sari, consisting of an orange printed wrapped skirt secured with a sash, a short red blouse, and a long diaphanous scarf worn over her head. The prince is dressed in the Central Asian tunic and pants customarily worn by the Mughals.
  • ?–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, 98
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); December 31, 2013 - June 30, 2014.
  • {{cite web|title=The prince rejects the amorous advances of the king’s handmaiden, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=07 October 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.55.b