This was painted in 1917, a crucial year in the development of Maria Blanchard's career. She had become integrated in the Cubist movement in 1916, when she moved to Paris. Juan Gris, a close friend of Blanchard, introduced her to the Parisian art world, including Picasso, and was to advise her in her career. Benezit wrote of the relationship between Gris and Blanchard "Ils travaillent parfois aux mêmes tableaux, discutent ensemble et semblent faire partie du même univers..." (E. Benezit, Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs, Paris, 1976)
During an earlier visit to Paris, Maria had met Diego Rivera, Angeline Beloff and Marevna, and in 1916, when she established a studio in Montparnasse, she met them again. André Lhote, another of her contemporaries, introduced her to many prominent members of the Cubist movement such as Metzinger, Lipchitz, and de la Fresnaye. For a short time, Maria went to live in Juan Gris's house in Loches, where she met Leonce Rosenberg.
The present work represents one of the most ambitious compositions the artist undertook between 1916-1919. While mastering the Cubist methods of structure and perspective, Blanchard continued to develop her own style, although it is still possible to see the influence in particular of Juan Gris, in the similar compositional elements, range of colours and brushwork. The Cubists frequently used natural textures and colours in their work to contrast with the paint surface, as in Juan Gris 'Bouteille et Verre' of 1914. Blanchard has employed this technique in the present work, where the tactile nature of the bare wood becomes an integral part of the overall composition.