Alfred William Hassam (1842-69) was a painter and stained glass designer who was born in London, the son of a vellum binder. He may have trained at the Central School of Art (later the Royal College of Art) in South Kensington, or one of the other art and design schools supervised by the South Kensington-based Department of Science and Art. In the early 1860s he joined the London stained glass firm of Heaton, Butler and Bayne, where he is thought to have served as assistant to Robert Turnill Bayne. In 1865 he won a prize for his stained glass design for the north staircase of the South Kensington Museum; the V&A collection includes his stained glass panel (V&A 435-1865) which was exhibited at the Museum in 1865. During the late 1860s Hassam exhibited portraits and historical subjects at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists. He died in Hastings at the age of 27.

This design depicts the biblical narrative described in the gospels of Mark 6: 21-29 and Matthew 14: 6-11, in which the daughter of Herodias danced for Herod and her mother, Herodias, on the occasion of Herod's birthday. In the biblical passage, the dancing display so pleases Herod that he makes an oath in front of his gathered guests to grant Herodias' daughter whatsoever she would ask of him. In consultation with her mother, she asks for John the Baptist to be executed. Although unnamed in the New Testament, the daughter is frequently identified with Salome. In Hassam's composition depicting this passage Herodias has been omitted, instead Herod sits alone spectating whilst being attended to by a kneeling servant figure.