Cleveland Museum of Art

The parrot mother cautions her young on the danger of playing with foxes, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifth Night

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

One night the parrot Tuti tells Khujasta that he hopes her relationship with her new lover does not wind up being only half-baked, like the medical treatment of the king of Kamarupa. She asks what that was about, and Tuti begins the story by telling of a mother parrot who lived in the forest with her young, who liked to play with the fox cubs who lived at the base of the tree. The mother parrot is perched on the edge of her treetop nest. A fox cub suckles contentedly, as the mother keeps a sharp eye on the others.

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