Private Collection, Grosse Pointe, Michigan (commissioned from the artist), 1916
By descent to the present owner

In 1916, Troubetzkoy was commissioned by a number of prominent families in Grosse Point, Michigan to do portraits of various family members. Nell Ford Torrey asked the artist to do a portrait of her two small children, Eleanor and William. Eleanor was three at the time and William was five. While Troubetzkoy was working on capturing William's likeness, Eleanor became very restless and so the artist gave her a small piece of clay to keep her occupied. He thought she looked so charming playing with the clay, he decided to do a second sculpture, just for the pleasure of it (lot 104). Though it was not originally commissioned, Nell Ford Torrey was so pleased with the sculpture she acquired it upon its completion.