Inscribed on the reverse (now nearly illegible) on the back in pencil reads "Piece of tapestry (copied from head of Venus in large tapestry at [illegible] from cartoon by Burne Jones worked at Merton by Morris & Co. Feb. 1913." Mariller states that the original tapestry was destroyed by fire at the Brussels exhibition in 1910. Mr George Booth had been interested in purchasing it. A subsequent re-weaving was offered in 1922 and accepted by Booth for the Detroit Art Gallery, he had previously turned down offers in 1909 and 1911, this trial piece is presumably part of the negotiations with Booth and the final tapestry was to be made by Percy Sheldrick who joined the company in 1922 after three years training. Burne-Jones designed the tapestry in 1898 cartoons for it are held in the Tate Gallery, London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.