Primarily an illustrator of fairy tales and poems, French was a key figure in the ‘Glasgow Style’ movement which emerged in the 1890s and continued in the years before the First World War. French’s style owed much to Aubrey Beardsley and the Pre Raphaelite movements. The date of this work is unknown: while it is similar to works dating from the early 1900s, French continued working in this style for many years thereafter.