The British artist and sculptor Henry Moore designed this print around 1945 for the textile firm Ascher Limited in London. Along with other British and European artists, Moore was asked by Ascher to design prints for dress fabrics in order to create more exciting textiles than those available during the Second World War. Moore's patterns were actually based on figurative drawings from the sketchbooks. The process of screen-printing did not restrict the nature of the designs, and meant that the quality and distinction of the artist's work was not lost in production. Ascher Limited was founded by Zika and Lida Ascher from the Czech Republic in 1943. Along with Alisatir Morton for Edinburgh Weavers, Ascher began the practice of working with artists in 1944 to produce innovative textile designs. Dress fabrics from Ascher were very popular with French, British and Italian couturiers in the 1940s, including Christian Dior and Elsa Schiaperelli.