Aimé Jules Dalou (d.1902) appears to have been fascinated by the representation of the female form. Throughout his career he made a considerable number of studies of bathers, standing or seated, drying themselves. These were usually in plaster and terracotta, allowing him a greater vibrancy and immediacy and were constantly worked and re-worked to create different compositions. The intimacy of Dalou's series of bathers appears to have been reserved for private collectors, his pieces being purchased from galleries or his own studio rather than being shown at the Salon or Royal Academy.

The constant re-modelling of the terracottas and plasters makes it very difficult to date an individual piece with any precision. Hébrard was permitted to cast many of Dalou's works from 1907 and this was done in editions usually of ten, the present example being numbered 6.