Tonge was born in Liverpool, where he studied art at the Mechanics’ Institute. His career was short; ‘had he lived to develop his genius fully, he might have ranked among the foremost painters of the British landscape school,’ lamented H.C. Marillier in 1904. Inspired by his local landscape, Tonge painted the hills and streams of the nearby Wirral in simple, sombre colours. Here, in a typically modest study, a blanket dangles over the edge of an old bridge spanning a quiet stream.