Sandby worked as a drawing master to several wealthy families, and this young woman is likely to have been one of his pupils, perhaps Rhoda Delaval, daughter of the Northumberland industrialist John Delaval. Sandby depicts his subject's pastime as a pleasant, orderly and rational activity: she is seated in the light and airy interior of a large house, dressed in the fashions of the day, and working at a modish artist's table.

No. 72