Rebecca John, the granddaughter of Augustus John and the leading specialist on his art, has dated this drawing to c. 1900–05. She believes it was drawn either in Paris or Marseilles. It was apparently made on the same occasion as another drawing of the same sitter, which pictures him from the other side in a similar three-quarter-length view (fig. 1), although the clothing differs slightly between the two drawings.

The Moor was formerly owned by Enaid Jones, who studied at art schools and privately with Philip de Laszlo, before enrolling at the Slade School of Art in 1910. Her fellow students included Dora Carrington, Mark Gertler, David Bomberg, C.R.W. Nevinson, Edward Wadsworth and Stanley Spencer.