Frances Hodgkins' early watercolours of Maoris present a simple, timeless way of life. Her female figures are often depicted weaving or gathering food and flowers. The present painting was one of the last completed before her first visit to Europe in 1901 and probably helped provide funds for the trip. It was formerly in the collection of her fellow artist, Sydney Lough Thompson, who wrote, "this little sketch... is delightful in its liquid colour tones lightly touched on but at the same time robustly painted."

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E. H. McCormick, Works of Frances Hodgkins in New Zealand (Auckland, 1954), p. 157