Humphrey Hopper was born in 1767 and worked mainly in London and Lewes, Sussex. He first attended the Royal Academy in 1801 at the relatively late age of thirty four, but quickly gained attention, winning a silver medal in 1802 and a gold medal the following year. Many commissions followed and his work can be found amongst other places at Windsor (St George's Chapel), Robert Packe, and St Paul's Cathedral, General Hay. He is, however, perhaps better known today for designing lamps, usually in plaster or terracotta and portraying classical goddesses and maidens. As with the present figure, these are often ebonised.