The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 26, 2024

The deceitful wife persuades her husband to sleep in the same place where she had previously slept with her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night

The deceitful wife persuades her husband to sleep in the same place where she had previously slept with her lover, 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: 9.5 x 10.1 cm (3 3/4 x 4 in.)
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

The striped dome and blue and gold brick pattern are vestiges of an earlier tradition.

Description

In order to preempt the accusations of her father-in-law, the clever wife brought her husband to the same location and slept with him there. When her father-in-law then confronted his son, telling him that he caught his wife in bed with a man by the side of the canal and had her anklet to prove it, the husband simply laughed and said that the man was he, himself. In this manner the clever woman did not get caught in her adultery. The vizier's story convinced the king to doubt the word of his handmaiden and stay the execution of his son. The handmaiden, hearing this, appealed to the king to defend her honor, and he again sent the prince to be executed, at which time the next vizier tells the story of another mendacious woman.
  • ?–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. p. 105
    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, 105
    Seyller, John. “Overpainting in the Cleveland T̤ūtīnāma.” Artibus Asiae 52, no. 3/4 (1992): 283-318. p. 312 www.jstor.org
  • Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); December 31, 2013 - June 30, 2014.
  • {{cite web|title=The deceitful wife persuades her husband to sleep in the same place where she had previously slept with her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night|url=false|author=|year=c. 1560|access-date=26 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.68.b