Paintings of elaborately dressed small girls in pert or playful attitudes, often posed in domestic interiors, were very popular in late Victorian Britain. John Everett Millais was the main originator of the type. Their appeal to a soap producer and advertiser like Lever was obvious - a lot of soap would be required to achieve that pristine look.

The model used in this painting was Nansi Owen, whom the artist came across during a tour in North Wales. She was the daughter of a schoolmaster. Her bonnet and dress were made by a women's clothes  shop in Bethesda called 'Compton House', and the setting was the staircase of that shop.

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Paintings of elaborately dressed small girls in pert or playful attitudes, often posed in domestic interiors, were very popular in late Victorian Britain. John Everett Millais was the main originator of the type. Their appeal to a soap producer and advertiser like Lever was obvious - a lot of soap would be required to achieve that pristine look. The model used in this painting was Nansi Owen, whom the artist came across during a tour in North Wales. She was the daughter of a schoolmaster. Her bonnet and dress were made by a women's clothes shop in Bethesda called 'Compton House', and the setting was the staircase of that shop.

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