This is the eighth drawing from a series of twelve watercolours which show the manufacturing processes of Doulton's Lambeth pottery works, made by William Rowe about 1893. Above the drawing, the painter indicated, in pencil, that the process represented was that of 'painting vases'. In this drawing, three female painters are sitting in the studio painting vases. The Barlow sisters - Hannah and red-haired Florence - have been identified at work in this process. Unlike male workers doing skilled or heavy work, the female workers' role in a pottery was to assist male potters or to paint and decorate earthenware. This drawing offers a rare view of the interior of the design studio and gives invaluable information about the firm's practice of design and decoration.

This drawing, along with other drawings in the series, provide a unique insight into the workings of the Lambeth factory. They not only depict processes from digging, grinding and purifying clay, to modelling, decorating, glazing and firing the finished piece, but also include portraits of Doulton's most important and influential designers and craftsmen, such as the Barlow sisters and Mark Marshall.

The set of drawings remained in the archives of the factory for many years until the dispersal of the Doulton material, when they were bought by the collectors of art pottery, Allen Harriman and Edward Judd. The designs seem not to have been executed in ceramic form as panels or a frieze as intended. However, it is recorded that a set of full-scale drawings was made and displayed at the Chicago exhibition in 1893 and were later purchased by Northwestern University Guild.

The V&A has an oil painting by Albert Morgan (E.1632-1989) which also shows the Barlow sisters at work, and in the Ceramics Gallery, there are pieces of Barlow ware similar to those depicted.