This is a pair from four small-scale fêtes champêtre by Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Pater, who had studied with Watteau in Paris. These fanciful scenes set Italian figures from the 'Commedia dell’arte' within the framework of the garden beside fountains, ruinous garden buildings or statuary. They would have had a distinctive appeal to Frederick, Prince of Wales, who acquired them, as he embarked on the creation of the rococo gardens at Kew.