Cecil Collins (1908-1989) worked both as a painter and designer. He studied at the Plymouth School of art between 1923 and 1927 and the Royal College of Art, London from 1927-1931. In the early 1930s the artist became exposed to the work of artists Picasso (1881-1973) and Klee (1879-1940). In 1936 he participated in the International Surrealist Exhibition, London, before moving away from the movement. The artist returned to his native Devon to teach at Dartington Hall from 1939 to 1943. He believed in art being created through visionary experience and spiritual quest and his works from the 1940s echo the mystical feel of the artists Samuel Palmer (1805-1881) and Odilon Redon (1840-1916).

This sheet contains a design in watercolour and ink for the cover of the book The Bridal Tree, by the Scottish poet J. F. Hendry (1912-1986), which Collins was working on in 1946. In places on the page the artist has tried out shades of beige wash, drawing in black and red ink on some of these. Having found the right shade of wash, Collins has drawn a rectangle in pencil in which to work on the centre left of the sheet. After applying the wash he has then drawn the outline of the tree and head in black in while the wash is still wet, causing the lines to run slightly. He has then applied detail in red and black ink after the wash has dried. There are a number of notes that the artist has made in pencil and pink ink.