This sculpture is the earliest example of Mary Watts modelling in terracotta clay. It shows the inspiration of French sculptor Aimé-Jules Dalou, who was particularly known for his Mother and Child terracotta sculptures.

Mary’s work in terracotta led to her involvement with the Home Arts and Industries Association. The Association, established in 1877, aimed to revive forgotten handicrafts across the country, whilst also improving the livelihoods and wellbeing of working people through access to art and craft. In 1884, a friend of the artist persuaded Mary to hold clay modelling classes, twice a week, at a ‘boys’ club’ in one of London’s most deprived districts, Whitechapel. The purpose, Mary recalled, was to give the boys, who were ‘chiefly shoeblacks, an interesting hour or two’ and to show them ‘the pleasure of making something in their leisure time’.

Subsequently, a few months before her marriage she was elected to serve on the Home Arts Council. Her involvement with the Association would go on to shape the rest of her artistic career and sow the seeds for her later projects in Compton.