The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 22, 2024

Green Parrot

Green Parrot

c. 1820
Overall: 38.5 x 28.6 cm (15 3/16 x 11 1/4 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This painting was owned by a founding partner of Cleveland law firm Hahn Loeser & Parks.

Description

Made by an Indian artist for a British civil servant working in Calcutta (now Kolkata), this bird is portrayed with precision and brilliant color. It appears to be of the same type as Tuti, the protagonist of the early Mughal Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot) manuscript. This example, however, has a black beak, indicating she is female, while the male Tuti has a red beak. Though loosely translated as “parrot,” Tuti is technically a Lord Derby’s parakeet. Because of its ability to talk, the parrot often appears in Indo-Iranian tales as a messenger of moral wisdom.
  • ?-1972
    Edgar A. Hahn [1882-1970], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1972-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Animal Fables of India (Indian art rotation). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 12-August 29, 2021).
    Art and Stories from Mughal India. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 31-October 23, 2016).
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Green Parrot|url=false|author=|year=c. 1820|access-date=22 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.285