In 1923 Pierre Lanique commissioned Francis Jourdain and Pierre Chareau to design a fully furnished apartment at 72 Avenue Henri-Martin in Paris. Amongst the many young artists whom Lanique patronised was Jacques Lipchitz. Aside from asking Lipchitz to design a pair of fine fire dogs he also chose some of the artist's most striking sculptures to decorate the apartment, and he selected a number of pieces including La Baigneuse.

Discussing the early casting of this piece, Pierre Levai notes "Lipchitz started to number his casts after he came to the United States, and thus began casting his earlier work at the end of the 1940s. While he lived in Europe until 1939, Lipchitz, as most of the sculptors at that time, did not number his casts. Lipchitz did in fact work with Valsuani and [this] cast should be considered number 1 of 2/7. The casting must have taken place between 1920 and 1935". The Lanique family provide an even more precise view suggesting that the present bronze was probably acquired shortly after the completion of the apartment in 1924.

We are very grateful to Pierre Levai of Marlborough Gallery Inc., New York, for his help in researching the casting details of this piece.