Bill Waters suggests that this may be a portrait of Bessie Keene who was one of Burne-Jones's favourite models at this period. She appears also in the Vespertina Quies of 1893 (Tate Britain, London). Dennis Mackail, the artist's grandson, suggested in a letter to the present owner (seller at Sotheby's Belgravia 1981) that it was of an earlier date and a portrait of his mother Margaret.