Carter was the Yorkshire-born and Slade-trained art master at St Dunstan's College, Catford, from 1902 to his retirement in 1932 and, as resident at Keston, Kent (where he chaired the Parish Council, 1918–1932) a neighbour of the artistic March siblings at Goddendene, Locksbottom. This bust may have marked Carter's retirement (his family still has another unbronzed cast) and may be the one exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists (RSBA) in 1932. It was acquired by the collection in March 1977. A bronze was also cast and is likely to have been the version shown at the RSBA in 1935, priced at 25 guineas: on purchase at an uncertain date it is reported to have been taken to Switzerland. Elsie March's brother, Edward, also painted a portrait of Carter's wife, Lucy, still in Carter family hands.