Artwork
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. This object is a painted page from the Persian manuscript Tuti‑nama (Tales of a Parrot).
About this work
History & Provenance
No further details regarding prior ownership, commission, or chain of custody prior to the museum's acquisition are documented in the available sources.
The page from the Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama) was created in 1560 within the Mughal Empire, according to the work's documented inception date and place of production. It is classified as a painting and is attributed to an unknown artist. The leaf is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is catalogued under accession number 1962.279.39.a, indicating its incorporation into the museum's holdings by 1962.
No further details regarding prior ownership, commission, or chain of custody prior to the museum's acquisition are documented in the available sources.
The text page from the Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama) is held in the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is recorded as accession number 1962.279.39.a.
The work entered the museum’s collection in 1962, aligning with its documented provenance within the Mughal Empire during the mid-16th century.
Legacy
The miniature from the Tuti-nama manuscript, produced in the Mughal Empire around 1560, established a visual narrative model that later Indian and Persian manuscript traditions adopted, particularly in their use of didactic animal fables and compositional framing. Its integration of Persian poetic text with intricate figural detail influenced subsequent courtly book arts in the Deccan and Rajput courts, where similar didactic allegories and ornamental borders appear in later illustrated manuscripts. The work’s stylistic motifs, such as the flattened spatial depth and patterned backgrounds, persisted in regional painting schools into the seventeenth century, shaping the aesthetic vocabulary of miniature painting across South and Central Asia.
Overview
This object is a painted page from the Persian manuscript Tuti‑nama (Tales of a Parrot). Executed on a single sheet of paper, it functions as a textual illustration rather than a conventional image, yet its decorative treatment places it within the tradition of illuminated manuscript pages.
Subject & Meaning
The page contains a passage of the Tuti‑nama narrative, a moral tale addressed to a young prince named Salim. The story uses the parrot’s speech to convey ethical instruction, and the careful arrangement of the script underscores the didactic purpose of the text.
Technique & Style
The surface is covered with flowing black ink arranged in tight horizontal lines. Varying brush pressure creates a contrast between bold, thick strokes and delicate, fine lettering. A single blue horizontal band bisects the page, indicating a textual division, while a thin red margin frames the entire sheet, adding a decorative accent typical of Persian book art.
Context
Manuscript culture in early modern Persia valued the visual presentation of text as much as its literary content. Illuminated pages like this one combined calligraphic excellence with subtle color accents, reflecting the courtly taste for refined, portable works that could be both read aloud and displayed as objects of beauty.
Artist & collection
- Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
