This allegorical group of Charity, traditionally shown suckling and protecting children, is by the French sculptor Dalou. He studied in Paris in 1850s and was greatly influenced by the French sculptors of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. He was actively involved in the commune in Paris in 1871 (when the working class seized power in a brief but influential "dictatorship of the proletariat") and fled as a political exile to London where he remained until 1880. With the exception of two works, all of his sculpture at the V&A, including this piece, dates from this period. Dalou had a profound impact on the development of sculpture in Britain.

Many of his works are of women in intimate domestic situations. Whether reading, sewing or, as here, with small children, they have a remarkable informality and intimacy. Dalou executed a number of versions specifically of Charity 1877-8. A marble group of this subject was made to stand over a drinking fountain in Exchange Avenue at the back of the Royal Exchange in London. Though the statue was ready by the summer of 1877, the fountain was not erected and opened until the autumn of 1879. It deteriorated rapidly and was replaced by a bronze version. This is a reduced copy of the original marble made for the fountain.

This is a reduced replica of a marble group of 'Charity' made to stand over a drinking fountain in Exchange Avenue at the back of the Royal Exchange in London. The minutes of the Broad Street Ward record that a sub-Committee was appointed on 3 January 1877 to arrange for the erection of this fountain (which was originally intended for a site in Bartholomew Lane) and the members reported on 31 January the same year that they had agreed on a design: 'A group of statuary in marble called 'Charity' has been modelled by Mr Dalou - the well-known sculptor - and may be seen at his studio, corner of (217a) Glebe Place, Chelsea'. Thought the statue was ready by the summer of 1877, the fountain was not erected and opened until the autumn of 1879.