This delicate sketch depicts a lady playing the piano. Music was a favourite form of indoor recreation in Victorian times and no house was complete without a piano, whether a grand piano in the drawing-room or an upright piano in the parlour.
Many young ladies were expected to perform at social gatherings & functions and would be judged as to their training and practice by their proficiency in playing the piano before a genteel audience. Among women, the piano was one of the very few areas where she could express and distinguish herself.