The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 20, 2024

The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the forty-ninth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-Ninth Night

The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the forty-ninth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-Ninth Night

c. 1560
(reigned 1556–1605)
Overall: 20.3 x 14 cm (8 x 5 1/2 in.); Painting only: 8.8 x 10 cm (3 7/16 x 3 15/16 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The original underdrawing is visible where the paint has flaked from Khujasta’s face.

Description

On the forty-ninth of fifty-two nights, Tuti the wise, talking parrot tells Khujasta a moralizing story about three brothers, two of whom aged prematurely, while the third remained young. The story lasts until sunrise, and Khujasta is unable to leave to visit her lover.
  • ?–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.
  • {{cite web|title=The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the forty-ninth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-Ninth Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=20 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.311.a