The stained glass manufactory Kayll & Co. was founded in the late nineteenth century by John James Kayll (b. 1851). His grandfather lived on the Isle of Man, where his father, also John James, was born and lived before moving back to the mainland. John James Snr became a partner in Hartley’s glassworks in Sunderland and was mayor of Sunderland in 1866/67. John James Kayll Jr, educated at King William’s College on the Isle of Man, followed the same career as his father and became a stained glass artist. After moving to Leeds, he opened his own company: Kayll & Co.. The company prospered, particularly between 1890 and 1922, forming a partnership with Edwin Reed by 1900 (from when they operated as Kayll and Reed) and absorbing the Powell Brothers stained glass company in 1905. At its height the business had offices in Leeds, London and New Zealand and maintained a close link with the Isle of Man, where they carried out numerous commissions.

Kayll & Co. appear to have manufactured principally for ecclesiastical buildings and religious subjects therefore form the bulk of their work. Indeed, there are no records in their trade catalogues or photographs of their having undertaken any secular work. It is likely, however, that they might have offered secular subjects for domestic settings as an adjunct to their main commissions. This design depicting ‘Flora’ may therefore be an example of this. Judging from the identity of the figures, the visual symmetry of the two designs’ backgrounds, and the way that the two figures can be positioned to face towards one another it is possible that this design was intended to be a pair with E.3513-2018, a stained glass design depicting ‘Ceres’, or a trio (with Pomona).