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

The page from the Tuti-nama, dating to 1560, exemplifies Mughal book arts and remains influential in the study of South Asian miniature painting. Its narrative structure, blending didactic text with figural illustration, informed later Persian and Indian manuscript traditions. The work is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, accessioned as 1962.279.206.a, ensuring continued scholarly attention to its compositional techniques and storytelling approach.

This object is a single leaf from a Persian manuscript titled Tales of a Parrot. The page is composed of a warm, yellow‑brown paper that bears a thin dark border along its edges. Across the surface runs a continuous line of black ink, arranged in orderly rows that convey the narrative text.

The manuscript contains a literary work popular in Persian culture, recounting the adventures of a talking parrot. The text is rendered in a classic poetic script, a style traditionally employed for high literary and poetic compositions, indicating the story’s esteemed status within the literary canon.

The calligraphy is executed in a flowing black script, with subtle variations in letter size that create a visual rhythm. The ink appears uniformly applied, suggesting the use of a fine brush or reed pen on a prepared paper surface, typical of Persian manuscript production.