Collection Online as of September 25, 2023

Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page

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.)

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.96.a

Location

not on view

Description

The text of this manuscript is written in the Persian language using a clear form of the Arabic script called naskh. On this page the parrot is feigning concern that Khujasta's lover might not be as highborn as he claims to be. The prose is interrupted with lines of verse written in the gold-outlined boxes and introduced in blue with the word qat'e, meaning cut, as though the verse is cutting into the story.

Provenance

?–1959

Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD ¹

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

¹Samuel 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.

Exhibition history

Main Gallery Rotation (gallery 245): April 28, 2015 - November 2, 2015.