Artwork Page for The husband berates his wife for purchasing gravel instead of sugar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

Details / Information for The husband berates his wife for purchasing gravel instead of sugar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

The husband berates his wife for purchasing gravel instead of sugar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

c. 1560

Mughal India, court of Akbar

(reigned 1556–1605)
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Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Measurements
Painting only: 11.7 x 10.2 cm (4 5/8 x 4 in.); Overall: 20 x 14.4 cm (7 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.70.b
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
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Did You Know?

The arched horizon, arabesque clouds, and mauve background are derived from earlier Indo-Persian painting traditions.

Description

After a brief romantic encounter with a merchant, an unfaithful wife returns home to discover that the merchant's clerk replaced her sugar with gravel. Her husband demanded to know why she brought him a bag of dirt. In response, the wily adulteress concocts a quick lie that he readily accepts.
A vertically oriented tempera painting depicts Persian script framing a central scene. To the left, a multilevel building with a golden dome rises. In the center, a man with medium-light skin tone wearing a blue robe and striped turban kneels on a red rug. He gestures toward a woman in patterned gold and red garments holding a white jug under a checkered canopy. Swirling blue patterns fill the sky above a purple landscape.

The husband berates his wife for purchasing gravel instead of sugar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

c. 1560

Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)

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