Jessie M King was one of the most successful designers and illustrators at the end of the 19th century. She was born in Bearsden, Glasgow, and in the 1890s studied at the Glasgow School of Art, where she later taught book and ceramic decoration. King was celebrated for her book illustrations, but also worked in painting, graphics, ceramic, textiles, furniture, silver, enamelwork and jewellery. She and her husband, Ernest Archibald Taylor, ran an art school in Paris and later in Kirkcudbright. The photographer, J Craig Annan, was part of the same Glasgow circle, equally concerned with the need for beauty of design in all aspects of living.