This poster belongs to a large collection assembled during the nineteenth century by Joseph Thacher Clarke, whose wife, Agnes, gave the collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1921. Clarke was one of the first poster collectors and organised several exhibitions of these works at The Royal Aquarium in London. In the introduction to one of the exhibition's catalogues, Clarke showed great foresight when he proposed that the medium would hold enduring appeal and significance:

"The finest posters are, indeed, not only exemplars of artistic originality, beauty, and excellence in technique, but actual records of the daily life and interests of the age. From these documents the future historian may derive the fullest information concerning our food (physical and intellectual), our clothing, our diseases, and our remedies therefor - in short, concerning our vocations, our amusements, and our morals. What would not the archaeologist be willing to give for a set of such documents, relating, let us say, to Pericleian Athens or to Augustan Rome?"