Jessie Newbery, wife of Fra Newbery, director of the Glasgow Schoool of Art, was an active and enthusiastic advocate of the art of needlework. She established the first Department of Embroidery at the Glasgow School of Art, where students were encouraged to experiment with different fabrics and threads apart from the more traditional crewel wools on linen, and to follow her own rather linear style. She supported the Arts and Crafts view expressed by her husband that "..beauty in the common surrounding of our daily lives should be an absolute necessity..". The present pieces is characteristic in both style, material and usage of a relatively early work.
For further details of Jessie Newbery and her work, see: Glasgow Girls. Women in Art Design 1880 -1920,, chapter by Liz Arthur, p. 147 et seq