Both paintings date
from c.1886-9. Sargent moved into the ground-floor studio at 33 Tite
Street in 1886, later acquiring the house next door, 31, and knocking a
hole through the wall to unite them. The proportions of the room in 33
Tite Street, which was then Sargent's dining-room, and which survives
today, match those of the room represented in the paintings. The blue
bowl on the sideboard, which features in both works, is still owned by
descendants of Sargent's sister, Violet. A second picture by Sargent
called 'The Blue Bowl', showing this object, seems to be a view of the
dining-room looking the other way (Addison Gallery of American Art,
Amherst, Massachusetts). Sargent and Belleroche had been close friends
since their student days in Paris, and are known to have shared a
studio from time to time, so there is nothing improbable in their
sitting side by side to paint the same scene. The two little
girls poring over a sketch in Belleroche's picture, who add to it a
warm, human note, have not been identified, probably the daughters of a
friend.

