Sickert is one of the most famous artists associated with Bath. He lived there for a few months during the First World War, and then returned to the city towards the end of his life. He is buried at Bathampton. This is a very early work. On a visit to the Victoria Art Gallery in his old age, he saw it on display and told Clifford Ellis, of Bath School of Art, that it was the first painting that he had ever sold. As a young artist, Sickert struggled to earn a living. This work, on a small piece of artist’s board, would have been relatively inexpensive to produce. The soft greyish purple of the flowers is distinctive and appears in many other works by Sickert. It was a favourite colour that he used thought his career.