id:			137588
accession number:	1962.279.207.a
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1962.279.207.a
updated:		2020-11-04 20:50:22.520000

Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): Thirty-first night: The donkey, in a tiger’s skin, reveals his identity by braying aloud, 1558-1560. Attributed to Basavana (Indian, active c. 1560–1600). Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry 1962.279.207.a

title:				Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): Thirty-first night: The donkey, in a tiger’s skin, reveals his identity by braying aloud
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			1558-1560
creation date earliest:		1558
creation date latest:		1560
current location:		
creditline:			Gift of Mrs. A. Dean Perry
copyright:			

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culture:	India, Mughal, Reign of Akbar, 16th century
technique:	Opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper
department:	Indian and Southeast Asian Art
collection:	Indian Art
type:		Painting
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

* Basavana (Indian, active c. 1560–1600)  - artist

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

* Main Asian Rotation (Gallery 245); July 2, 2014 - January 5, 2015.

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PROVENANCE

	Estate of Breckenridge Long, Bowie, MD, 1959; Harry Burke Antiques, Philadelphia, PA; Bernard Brown, Milwaukee, WI;
	date: 
	footnotes: 	
	citations: 	


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wall description: 
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 lion’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 distinctive painterly style of this page appears to be the work of one of Akbar’s most talented artists, Basawan. The free brushwork is complex but assured with a soft and wet application of color in the billowing grass, trees, and the furry texture of the lion skin, rendered here as that of a tiger.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.279.207.a/1962.279.207.a_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.279.207.a/1962.279.207.a_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1962.279.207.a/1962.279.207.a_full.tif