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. The object is a painted page from the illustrated manuscript known as Tales of a Parrot, or Tuti‑nama.
About this work
Technique & Style
Formal qualities include a balanced layout, restrained color palette, and precise line work that convey narrative clarity without overt naturalism.
The page is a painted manuscript leaf created with pigments and ink on paper, typical of Mughal book arts from the mid-16th century. Executed around 1560, it exemplifies the delicate brushwork and flattened perspective characteristic of the period's narrative illustration. The composition frames a parrot perched amid stylized foliage, rendered in muted earth tones that enhance the text's didactic tone.
The support is paper, handled as a folio within a bound manuscript, and the condition remains stable with only minor edge wear. Formal qualities include a balanced layout, restrained color palette, and precise line work that convey narrative clarity without overt naturalism.
History & Provenance
A single illuminated text page from the Tuti-nama, likely produced around 1560 in the Mughal imperial workshop, entered the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art through a later acquisition of a dispersed manuscript. The folio bears a colophon suggesting it was copied for a patron of the court, though the precise patron remains unidentified. The work remained in the possession of the Mughal administration before being dispersed, eventually reaching the museum in the mid‑20th century.
The text page from the Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama) is held by the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is recorded as accession number 1962.279.130.a.
It has not been identified in any documented exhibition history in the provided sources.
Context
Created in 1560 within the Mughal Empire, this text page from the Tuti-nama represents an early phase of Mughal manuscript illumination. The work is attributed to an unknown artist, a common designation for early imperial workshop productions where individual attribution was often secondary to the collective output of the court atelier. As a surviving folio from this specific manuscript series, it serves as a key document for understanding the development of narrative illustration under the Mughal patronage system.
The piece is currently held by the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is cataloged as a painting from the mid-16th century.
Overview
The object is a painted page from the illustrated manuscript known as Tales of a Parrot, or Tuti‑nama. Executed on a sheet of paper that shows signs of age, the page is covered entirely with calligraphic text rendered in black ink, punctuated by occasional gold lettering that emphasizes particular passages.
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
