Burne-Jones drew this little caricature of himself as a very special gift to his muse and lover, Maria Zambaco, at a highly-charged and very vulnerable point in his life. Maria was probably the model for the composition on the easel. Burne-Jones produced many caricatures of himself and his struggles with his work, often showing himself prematurely aged by the demands of his art. His obsession with the ageing process can be traced even in the caricatures made in his early twenties; at the time that Burne-Jones executed this work he was aged about thirty-four. His anxiety about the passage of time and his fear of old age became more acute as he did indeed begin to grow old and became increasingly conscious of the years that separated him from the younger women with whom he fell in love. Humorous exaggeration was a way of exorcising this concern. A date in the mid or late 1860's is likely for this drawing as the composition of the picture on the easel is similar to that of Fair Rosamund, a watercolour of 1863. It is also perhaps a preliminary idea for Sybilla Delphica of 1868 and a reversal of the pose of Summer, 1869, for which Maria Zambaco is the model. The pose reemerges almost twenty years later in the tapestry of Pomona.
The figure on the easel is similar to the Garland Weaver's stained glass in the Green Dining Room at the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Burne-Jones's passionate 'misdemeanour' with Maria Zambaco began in the late 1860s and continued for about three years. She was an exceptionally beautiful member of the London Greek colony and had some skill as a sculptress. The impact that their affair had on Burne-Jones was profound yet it was very much an offshoot of Rossetti's liaisons with Elizabeth Siddal and Jane Morris. Like Rossetti, he saw Maria as a symbol of his muse as much as a fleshy reality; the drawings and paintings of her are permeated by a quality of unearthly beauty and sadness. It may well be that the reason for the withdrawal from The Old watercolour Society of 'Phyllis and Demophoon' in 1869 was that it portrayed Maria semi-nude clutching an almost nude man, the reference to his personal affairs being too close for the satisfaction of the committee. The present collection of comic drawings gives a rare insight into the relationship, revealing a whimsy and parody that characterise a liaison that was more than purely sensual.