The present work is from a series of drawings of Ida, standing in a large hat, a pose which was originally to be used for a composition of bathers. There are at least eight drawings of Ida in this pose (an example is in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge). After Ida's death in 1907, John began to combine the figures of Ida and Dorelia. 'The Way down to the Sea', painted in 1909, and purchased by John's patron John Quinn, depicts Ida in this pose, holding an apple in her left hand, with Dorelia and two girls standing behind her.
(see D.F. Jenkins, Augustus John Studies for Compositions, National Museum of Wales Exhibition Catalogue, Cardiff, 1978, p.50).