Artwork

The vizier’s son receives the magic wooden parrot from the wife of the merchant, who is drunk, and has a replica made by a carpenter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night

Lalu , 1560

The vizier’s son receives the magic wooden parrot from the wife of the merchant, who is drunk, and has a replica made by a carpenter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Tenth Night is an unspecified painting by the Mughal Painting artist Lalu. It dates from 1560 and is held in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The work illustrates a moment from the tenth night of the Tuti‑nama, a collection of parrot‑told tales.

About this work

You see a busy scene: a drunk merchant sprawled on the floor, his wife handing a wooden parrot to a young man, and a carpenter above them carving an exact copy.

You see a busy scene: a drunk merchant sprawled on the floor, his wife handing a wooden parrot to a young man, and a carpenter above them carving an exact copy.

This painting comes from a book of stories told by a parrot to keep its owner from sneaking out at night. The tiny details—like the carpenter’s tools and the merchant’s flushed face—show how artists in Mughal India brought stories to life. It’s like a comic strip from the 1500s.

To see more art like this, look up Mughal India, court of Akbar (reigned 1556–1605).

Overview

The work illustrates a moment from the tenth night of the Tuti‑nama, a collection of parrot‑told tales. In the foreground a drunken merchant lies prostrate while his wife passes a carved wooden parrot to the vizier’s son, who is engaged in an illicit liaison with her. Above them a carpenter, positioned in a higher register, meticulously reproduces the same bird, foreshadowing its later exchange.

Subject & Meaning

The scene captures a complex web of deceit and loyalty: the merchant’s inebriation, the secret affair between his wife and the vizier’s heir, and the symbolic transfer of the parrot—a messenger of truth in the narrative. The carpenter’s duplication underscores themes of replication and the persistence of secrets across social strata.

Technique & Style

Executed in the refined Mughal miniature tradition, the painting combines delicate brushwork with vibrant pigments to render intricate details such as the carpenter’s tools, the merchant’s flushed complexion, and the texture of the wooden bird. The composition employs a bifurcated register, allowing simultaneous depiction of the earthly transaction below and its preparatory act above.

Context

Created during the reign of Emperor Akbar (1556–1605), the piece reflects the court’s patronage of illustrated manuscripts that blended Persian literary forms with Indian visual sensibilities. The Tuti‑nama itself served as moral entertainment, and its illustrated pages illustrate how Mughal artists transformed narrative episodes into vivid, almost cinematic, visual narratives.