Sickert liked to view models from above with the resulting gain of intriguing perspectives. Here, the sensuous figure seems firmly asleep, unaware of Sickert’s vigorous attack on the canvas. She wears what has been called a red-patterned blouse but it may well be a dress partially covered by an apron, as is surely the case with a companion painting, Woman Seated on a Bed (circa 1907, Harvard Art Museums) [Baron 343.1], which depicts the same woman, the red apparel and the ebony French bed with curtained canopy. Nearly all Sickert’s figure paintings at this time are of carefully posed models; occasionally however he seems to have seen something that brought out his most spontaneous side and, as here I think, has quickly transcribed it to canvas.