The hunter throws away the baby parrots, who pretend to be dead, and captures the mother, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifth Night

Description

Despite the chess-playing monkey’s grim end, the baby parrots continued to cavort with the fox cubs. One day the mother fox discovered that her cubs had been eaten by a panther. Blaming the parrots, she lured a hunter to their tree. The hunter climbed the tree and ensnared the mother parrot and her babies. The mother instructed her young to play dead, then pleaded with the hunter to take her alone, saying that since she knew the art of healing she would fetch a high price. Lush vegetation and a stream of water painted with a soft brush indicate a fresh new stylistic vision that represents a departure from Indian and Persian styles that came before.

Provenance

Estate of Breckinridge Long [1881–1958], Bowie, MD (?–1959); (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) (1959?–1962); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1962–)

The hunter throws away the baby parrots, who pretend to be dead, and captures the mother, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifth Night

Basavana

c. 1560

Accession Number

1962.279.35.a

Medium

gum tempera, ink, and gold on paper

Dimensions

Overall: 20 x 14.4 cm (7 7/8 x 5 11/16 in.); Painting only: 10.6 x 10.2 cm (4 3/16 x 4 in.)

Classification

Painting

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry