The sitter in this work is the artist's niece, Annie Haden, who was about nine or ten years old when Whistler recorded her. Whistler spent Christmas in London with Annie's parents Francis Seymour Haden and Deborah Delano Haden—Whistler’s half-sister. This is one of Whistler's early figure studies of children; others include 'Annie', 'Little Arthur', and 'Seymour Standing' all from 1857-8.
