Annie French (1872-1965) was born in Glasgow and trained at the Glasgow School of Art under Fra Newbery and Jean Delville. Her many watercolours and pen drawings are mainly in the form of illustrations, although she also designed postcards and greetings cards. Her style is influenced by the Pre-Raphaelites with it's vivid colours and languid figures and similarly Jesse Marion King and Aubrey Beardsley, particularly in her use of massed dots, giving her work a speckled, confetti-like appearance. She was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy between 1900 and 1925.
This work is an illustration for 'The old ballad of Edward, Edward' which is inscribed in full on the reverse. The inscription also informs us that this ballad was 'first printed in Percy's "Reliques" from a manuscript transmitted by Lond Hailes.'