John Hassall (1868-1948) trained as a painter in Antwerp and Paris, but his plans for a career as a painter were deflected in 1897 by his success with a design for a poster for The French Maid, done in response to a circular letter from the printers David Allen and Sons asking artists if they could produce poster designs. Hassall went on to produce work for Allen and Sons for seven years, designing appealing and commercial posters. He worked fast, and by 1899 had designed over 600 posters as well as producing illustrations for nursery rhymes and fairy stories.

Hassall disliked lettering dominating posters, as he told an interviewer from The Poster, June 1898: 'The less writing the better. Even the principal words should be small; for it the design achieves its object, the public would find the name with a microscope if necessary.' Little lettering was needed on tour posters in any case, since the details of the venue would have been added by the relevant theatres.

Patience opened at London's Opera Comique Theatre in April 1881, transferred to D'Oyly Carte's new theatre the Savoy, in April 1881, and was first revived by D'Oyly Carte at the Savoy in November 1900. It was in the repertory of one of Carte's touring companies from 1881 onwards, but this poster was probably designed for the tour of the first revival.