This 'stevengraph,' showing The First Train, was one of a series of woven pictures produced by Thomas Stevens in Coventry. On the reverse of the mount is a trade label printed in 1886. Thomas Stevens learned the art of ribbon weaving with the Coventry firm of Pears & Franklin. In 1854 he set up his own business in Queen Street, Coventry. He began weaving plain and fancy ribbons, but was soon experimenting with the development of the jacquard loom to produce pictures. With a general collapse in the British silk trade in the 1860s Stevens continued to produce pictures (which he called 'stevengraphs'). However, although he took out a number of patents, none of these was for a picture.

Stevengraphs were woven to suit a wide audience. They ranged from small examples selling at 6d to large ones that sold for much as 15s. In no time Stevens had created an entirely new market through booksellers and stationers, as opposed to selling to the drapery trade, as most producers in Coventry had always done. Stevengraphs depict many subjects, including portraits, local scenes, British and foreign royalty, famous buildings, historic events, classical subjects, sports scenes, nursery rhymes and locomotion. This example depicts George Stevenson's 'Locomotive No.1' in 1825 on the first public railway in the world from Stockton to Darlington.