This tender study of the vulnerability and brevity of childhood, symbolised by the contrasting posies of spring flowers, is thought to be a portrait of the artist’s daughter in 1881 at the age of three. Fifty years later the sitter decided to waive her right to keep the picture during her lifetime and presented it to the Gallery in accordance with her father’s wishes. In 1884 Cameron had exhibited this portrait of ‘Grettie’ (presumably a pet name for Margaret) at the Royal Academy.