On acquisition in 1980 this figure was seen to complement sculptures by Eric Gill already in the Museum's collection, as well as the woodcuts, engravings and first edition books by Gibbings, which were held by the Department of Prints and Drawings and the National Art Library respectively. The stone and slate sculptures by Gill were subsequently transferred to the Tate Gallery, London, in 1982. This figure of a Tahitian woman was almost certainly inspired by a visit Gibbings made to Tahiti in 1929. The sculpture is not signed or dated, but was probably produced between about 1929 and 1931, when Gibbings was in close contact with Gill and becoming interested in sculpture while running the Golden Cockerell Press.

Gibbings (1889-1958) is best known as a book illustrator, wood engraver and writer. Only four sculptures by him are known, including this piece. He studied under Noel Rooke (1881–1953), an influential teacher at the Central School of Art and Crafts in London. Gibbings took over the Golden Cockerel Press in 1925, which was started in 1920 at Waltham St Lawrence, near Twyford. It was not until Gibbings took over that it made its reputation with some handsome books issued with wood-engraved illustrations by such names as Eric Gill, David Jones, Eric Ravilious and Gibbings, just to name a few. The most important work of the Press was an edition of the Four Gospels (1931) with decorations by Eric Gill.