Artwork
The husband berates his wife for purchasing gravel instead of sugar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The husband berates his wife for purchasing gravel instead of sugar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The work depicts an interior scene in which a kneeling man confronts a standing woman.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting illustrates a scene from the Eighth Night of the Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot), depicting a domestic dispute where a husband reprimands his wife for mistakenly purchasing gravel instead of sugar. Created in 1560 within the Mughal Empire, the work visualizes a specific narrative episode from this Persian moralistic text, which uses animal fables and human stories to teach lessons on fidelity, judgment, and the consequences of carelessness. The imagery serves as an iconographic representation of marital discord arising from a trivial error, reflecting the manuscript's broader function as a didactic tool.
The scene captures the moment of accusation, emphasizing the domestic setting and the emotional tension between the figures as they navigate the misunderstanding.
History & Provenance
The work is held by the Cleveland Museum of Art, where it is accessioned as 1962.279.70.b. It entered the museum’s collection in 1962 as part of a gift or purchase that included several folios from the Tuti-nama series.
The painting has been exhibited at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 1963 as part of the exhibition “Indian Miniature Paintings.”
Context
Its composition and narrative focus reflect the Mughal interest in domestic scenes and moral parables rendered in vibrant miniature format.
The husband berates his wife for purchasing gravel instead of sugar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night is a miniature painting attributed to an unknown artist active in the Mughal Empire around 1560. It is part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection, cataloged under accession number 1962.279.70.b and classified as a painting from the Mughal period. The work is one of eight illustrated folios from the Tuti-nama manuscript, a Persian narrative cycle produced in the mid-16th century that blends didactic storytelling with courtly aesthetics.
Its composition and narrative focus reflect the Mughal interest in domestic scenes and moral parables rendered in vibrant miniature format.
Overview
The work depicts an interior scene in which a kneeling man confronts a standing woman. He holds a white pouch and gestures toward her, while she clutches a smaller bag and appears uneasy. A richly patterned carpet covers the floor, and a gold‑domed structure can be seen through an opening behind them.
Technique & Style
Rendered with meticulous attention to texture, the painting employs fine brushwork to delineate the patterned carpet, the intricate jewelry on the woman, and the decorative wall designs. A vivid palette of reds, golds, and earth tones enhances the sense of opulence within the confined space.
Legacy
As an example of narrative painting within the Tuti‑nama genre, the piece illustrates how moral or cautionary tales were conveyed to literate audiences. Its detailed interior and expressive figures provide insight into contemporary domestic settings and the visual conventions used to depict marital dialogue.
Artist & collection
- The husband berates his wife for purchasing gravel instead of sugar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The merchant’s clerk replaces the sugar purchased by the philandering wife with gravel, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The pious man’s wife offers the seven-colored bird as food to her lover, but not finding its head, he breaks the pot and bowl in anger, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifty-second Night
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the thirty-eighth night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
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 merchant’s clerk replaces the sugar purchased by the philandering wife with gravel, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Eighth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The deceitful wife assaults her erring husband, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Shahr-Arai’s husband bends to kiss his wife who feigns sleep, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fortieth Night
A woman asks her lover to leave her house, brandishing his sword and feigning rage in order to deceive her husband who has just arrived, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Kamjuy, the wife of the Raja, averts her face from the fishes, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-seventh Night, form a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The two cooks, who attempt to seduce the warrior’s loyal wife, are trapped by her in a cellar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fourth Night
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Nineteenth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-seventh Night, form a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The Parrot Addresses Khujasta at the Beginning of the Twenty-sixth Night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The two cooks, who attempt to seduce the warrior’s loyal wife, are trapped by her in a cellar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fourth Night
The parrot addresses Khujasta at the beginning of the forty-third night, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot)
The daughter-in-law of the king of Banaras, charmed by the music of a vagabond, comes down to meet him, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Sixteenth Night
The eldest brother explains the reason for his youthful appearance, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-ninth Night