Artwork
The merchant’s daughter gives birth to a son as a result of eating out of the box. The clever child recognizes the false gems from true, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night
The merchant’s daughter gives birth to a son as a result of eating out of the box. The clever child recognizes the false gems from true, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night is an unspecified painting. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The work illustrates a domestic interior where a woman, seated on a patterned blue‑yellow blanket, is in the act of childbirth.
About this work
Overview
The work illustrates a domestic interior where a woman, seated on a patterned blue‑yellow blanket, is in the act of childbirth. Surrounding figures gather on a muted gray brick floor, their attention focused on the central event. The composition is framed by a pink, flower‑decorated wall edged with a vivid yellow‑red border, creating a lively visual environment.
Subject & Meaning
The scene derives from a tale in the Tuti‑nama, a collection of Persian stories, in which a merchant’s daughter gives birth to a son after consuming food from a mysterious box. The narrative emphasizes the child's innate wisdom, as he later discerns genuine jewels from counterfeit ones, underscoring themes of insight and destiny.
Technique & Style
The painter employs a bright, saturated palette that heightens the drama of the moment. Contrasting hues—cool blues and warm yellows for the blanket, pinks and reds for the wall—guide the eye toward the birthing figure, while the subdued gray floor grounds the composition. The stylized patterning and flat decorative background reflect a manuscript illustration aesthetic.
Context
The image belongs to the twenty‑third night of the Tuti‑nama, a medieval Persian anthology that blends moral instruction with entertaining anecdotes. Such visual interpretations were common in illuminated manuscripts, where narrative scenes were rendered with vivid colors and ornamental detail to complement the text.
Artist & collection
The merchant has the hateful skull ground and put into a box, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-third Night
The marriage of ‘Ubaid, son of a merchant of Tirmiz, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-second Night
The young prince recounts his experiences to his father, the king, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
The dervish brings in as dowry an elephant laden with gold, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventh Night
Three suitors fight amongst themselves for the hand of the devotee’s daughter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twentieth Night
The king of Zabul sees Mahrusa from his palace balcony, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-sixth Night
Khalis repays the prince for his kindness by changing into a snake and sucking the poison from the king’s daughter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Mahrusa’s marriage to the prefect of the city, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirty-sixth Night
The magic parrot of the merchant talks to the vizier’s son, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night