Lottie Stafford, the model for this painting, was a Cockney washerwoman from the slum cottages of Paradise Walk in Chelsea. She was popular as a model on account of her naturalness, total self-assurance and subtle sensuality, despite the fact that she declined to pose in the nude. Orpen also employed her as the model for other paintings, and was particularly drawn to her ‘swan-neck’ which he emphasised in this work.