King Nala returning to Nisada with his bride, from a Nala-Damayanti series, Mandi, from the family workshop of Sajnu, circa 1810, brush drawing in black ink and grey wash, 24.8 x 31.2 cmProvenance: Private German CollectionA royal procession is proceeding through a city and entering a palace. At its head near the palace gateway is a curtained palanquin being borne under a baldachin with women walking alongside, which suggests a royal woman is being conveyed. She is followed by various women and children and then the men in the party with royal appurtenances ?wrapped up swords, fans, morchhals and a parasol being borne over the young crowned prince riding a horse. He is followed by a younger crowned prince also on horseback and a few other men walking. They are proceeding through what looks like a public square to the palace entrance with a bazaar to the side and some onlookers. The drawing was first roughed in with broad strokes of grey wash and then a heavy black line firmed up the outline. Everyone is wearing contemporary costume apart from the two princes who wear crowns indicating that they are epic figures. They may represent Nala on his return from Damayanti svayamvara with his bride, the second figure being Damayanti brother. Nala in the various series from the late 18th century normally but not invariably wears a turban (Goswamy 1975, passim), although Damayanti father King Bhima and brother both wear crowns in a drawing of Damayanti departure for Nisada after her marriage. Here the bride is conveyed in a palanquin under a baldachin very like the one in this drawing (Coomaraswamy 1910, pl. VI; Eastman 1959, pl. 18). Indeed in other drawings from the series now in the Boston Museum of Fine Art, Nala himself wears a crown when meeting King Bhima for the first time and during the wedding ceremony (Eastman 1959, pls. 9, 13). There were of course other sets of Nala-Damayanti drawings and paintings other than the well-known ones in Boston and the Karan Singh collection, include one attributed to Sajnu with some drawings in the National Museum, New Delhi, in one of which Nala is wearing a crown (Goswamy 1975, fig. 10).Literature: Eastman, A.C., The Nala Damayanti Drawings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959Goswamy, B.N., Pahari Paintings of the Nala-Damayanti Theme, National Museum of India. New Delhi, 1975King Nala returning to Nisada with his bride, from a Nala-Damayanti series, Mandi, from the family workshop of Sajnu, circa 1810, brush drawing in black ink and grey wash, 24.8 x 31.2 cmProvenance: Private German CollectionA royal procession is proceeding through a city and entering a palace. At its head near the palace gateway is a curtained palanquin being borne under a baldachin with women walking alongside, which suggests a royal woman is being conveyed. She is followed by various women and children and then the men in the party with royal appurtenances ?wrapped up swords, fans, morchhals and a parasol being borne over the young crowned prince riding a horse. He is followed by a younger crowned prince also on horseback and a few other men walking. They are proceeding through what looks like a public square to the palace entrance with a bazaar to the side and some onlookers. The drawing was first roughed in with broad strokes of grey wash and then a heavy black line firmed up the outline. Everyone is wearing contemporary costume apart from the two princes who wear crowns indicating that they are epic figures. They may represent Nala on his return from Damayanti svayamvara with his bride, the second figure being Damayanti brother. Nala in the various series from the late 18th century normally but not invariably wears a turban (Goswamy 1975, passim), although Damayanti father King Bhima and brother both wear crowns in a drawing of Damayanti departure for Nisada after her marriage. Here the bride is conveyed in a palanquin under a baldachin very like the one in this drawing (Coomaraswamy 1910, pl. VI; Eastman 1959, pl. 18). Indeed in other drawings from the series now in the Boston Museum of Fine Art, Nala himself wears a crown when meeting King Bhima for the first time and during the wedding ceremony (Eastman 1959, pls. 9, 13). There were of course other sets of Nala-Damayanti drawings and paintings other than the well-known ones in Boston and the Karan Singh collection, include one attributed to Sajnu with some drawings in the National Museum, New Delhi, in one of which Nala is wearing a crown (Goswamy 1975, fig. 10).Literature: Eastman, A.C., The Nala Damayanti Drawings, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1959Goswamy, B.N., Pahari Paintings of the Nala-Damayanti Theme, National Museum of India. New Delhi, 1975