Little is known of the genre artist, William Lomas, who apparently trained with Cecil van Haanen in Antwerp. He can later be associated with Luke Fildes and his brother-in-law, Henry Woods, who recalled that he thought of Lomas 'as a man who never did a dishonourable action in his life.' Woods and van Haanen formed part of a foreign colony of artists living in Venice, and it is possible that Lomas also sojourned there.

Impressionistic in style, the painting shares the same thick impasto paint and broken brushwork as the work of van Haanen and William Logsdail (RCIN 406572), who also trained in Antwerp and spent time in Venice.

The artist's address, 46 Victoria, Road, Kensington, appears on a label on the reverse of the painting. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1882-89.