The drawing is probably the preparatory sketch for the central figure of Im Weissen Saal of 1888 (Georg Schäfer collection, Schweinfurt) (fig. 1.), with only minor variations, such as the sleeve and hair decoration.

From the 1860's, Menzel had regularly attended Court receptions in Berlin. The most elaborate work of such occasions is his Das Ballsouper of 1878 (Nationalgalerie, Berlin, inv. no. NG985) and this culminated in the Schweinfurt picture (also titled Ballepisode) as the last work employing this theme. Although these paintings showed occasions involving the highest aristocracy, they were mainly purchased by the bourgeoisie as Menzel's figures were regarded as unattractive by the upper classes.

By contrast, Hermann Knackfuss, a contemporary biographer, was prompted to comment on the delicacy of the ladies in the Schweinfurt picture in comparison to Menzel's models: 'Man kann es kaum für möglich halten, dass der Künstler diese sprechenden Persönlichkeiten aus seiner Einbildungskraft geschaffen, dass er die Studien dazu nach gewöhnlichen Modellen gezeichnet hat'. (It is hard to believe that the artist was able to conceive such lifelike personalities from his imagination, the studies for them having been drawn from ordinary models.) (H.Knackfuss, Menzel, Bielefeld and Leipzig, 1895, p. 126).