Description
Made by an Indian artist for a British civil servant working in Calcutta (now Kolkata), this bird is portrayed with precision and brilliant color. It appears to be of the same type as Tuti, the protagonist of the early Mughal Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot) manuscript. This example, however, has a black beak, indicating she is female, while the male Tuti has a red beak. Though loosely translated as “parrot,” Tuti is technically a Lord Derby’s parakeet. Because of its ability to talk, the parrot often appears in Indo-Iranian tales as a messenger of moral wisdom.
Provenance
Edgar A. Hahn [1882-1970], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art (?-1972); The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (1972-)
Accession Number
1972.285
Medium
Gum tempera on paper
Dimensions
Overall: 38.5 x 28.6 cm (15 3/16 x 11 1/4 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Bequest of Edgar A. Hahn