For close comparison, see a Nala and Damayanti series published by W.G. Archer, Indian Paintings from the Punjab Hills, London, 1973, pp. 184-7, nos. 43i-xi, also in the Victoria and Albert Museum (acc. nos. IS.30-1954 through IS.39.1954 and IS.265.1953). The present lot is compositionally and stylistically very similar, although it includes brown borders, while the known works from the published series all have red or blue. Archer suggests the series was commissioned as a moral warning by the queen-mother of Devi Chand (r. 1741-1778); fatefully, Devi Chand’s grandson, and later successor, Kharak Chand (r. 1824-1839) fell victim to the very same vices that caused Nala’s demise, greatly threatening the state stability of Bilaspur.