Benigna de Callias was born in Paris, trained as a painter and exhibited at the Salon between 1868 and 1881. This tile is painted as though it is a canvas rather than conforming to a more formal design and, for that reason, it may have been acquired as an example of 'free' painting on ceramic. The tile company Veuve Dumas (the widow Dumas) supplied a number of designers and decorators with blanks. Her customers included J-T Deck who was overseer at the Dumas tileworks between 1851-56, before establishing his own workshop.