Gustave-Joseph Chéret (1838-1894) studied sculpture under Carrier-Belleuse, later marrying one of his daughters. He exhibited at the Paris Salon during the 1860's and then again from 1875. Chéret specialised in decorative statuettes, vases, table-centres and fireplaces. On Carrier-Belleuse's death he took over his master's role at the Sèvres factory, and his designs and style proved ideally suited to translation into porcelain. The present bronze is a rare large figural work by Chéret, showing his debt to Carrier-Belleuse in the style of the supple maiden, but revealing also his ties with Art-Nouveau inventiveness, particularly in the crown of putti at the maiden's head. It is an imaginative evocation of the world of dreams, graceful in its linear central figure, and yet enlivened by the fluttering movement of the cherubs.