Like his mentor William Etty, Pickersgill was fond of compositions in which nude female figures are seen in dangerously small boats. Other examples are A Little Gondelay, in the Manchester City Art Gallery, and The Pearl Boat, which was on the London art market in 1979. The subject of the present picture is not entirely clear but is reminiscent of Etty's Youth on the Prow and Pleasure at the Helm (Victoria and Albert Museum), exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1832. The title is taken from Gray's The Bard, where the phrase refers to the magnificence of the reign of Richard II.