The donkey, in a tiger’s skin, reveals his identity by braying aloud, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-first Night

Cleveland Museum of Art

The donkey, in a tiger’s skin, reveals his identity by braying aloud, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-first Night

BasavanaLinkedCulture matchlcp-055936be9a80

Date
c. 1560
Medium
gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper
Culture
Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605)
Department
Indian and Southeast Asian Art
Institution
Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID
137588

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

This painting illustrates a story about a merchant who owned a donkey but did not have enough money to feed him. He was able to secure a tiger’s skin, in which he dressed his donkey at night, so he could forage freely in fields, frightening away the owners’ watchmen, seen here scrambling up in trees for safety. He succeeded for a time and grew fat and healthy, until a nearby donkey brayed, and he instinctively answered, revealing his true identity. The complex brushwork, soft grass, and furry tiger’s skin are characteristics of the artist Basavana’s distinctive style.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line
Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
Provenance
?–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

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