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This painting depicts an important scene from the wedding
of Nala, king of Nishada, and Damayanti, the princess of
Vidarbha. Set in a court populated with figures, on the
extreme right is Nala with his hands folded in respect to
the gods blessing him. In the foreground, Nala is seated
on a palanquin and is departing for his wedding with
Damayanti. The storytelling technique follows the tradition
of a continuous narrative, where the central character can
appear multiple times in the same painting.
53
FOLIO FROM A NALA DAMAYANTI SERIES
KANGRA, CIRCA 1810
Inscribed in Nagari ‘Nala Damayanti’ at the bottom
Gouache on paper
Image: 11.25 x 12 in (28.6 x 30.9 cm)
Folio: 12.75 x 13.5 in (32.7 x 34.6 cm)
Rs 5,00,000 ‒ 7,00,000
$ 7,465 - 10,450
NON‒EXPORTABLE REGISTERED ANTIQUITY
PROVENANCE
Property from a Distinguished Family Collection
A related painting is now in the collection of the
Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the National
Museum inNewDelhi. Writing about the significance
of the theme, BNGoswamy observed that “...the story
of Nala and Damayanti has come in for considerable
attention as much because of its being the theme
of literary texts, which the painter was so fond of
illustrating, as because of intense human interest.”
(B N Goswamy,
Nala and Damayanti: A Great Series
of Paintings of an Old Indian Romance,
New Delhi:
Niyogi Books, 2015, p. 22)