Frederick Weekes was the son of the sculptor Henry Weekes (Senior), and the brother of the humorous animal painters Herbert William Weekes and Henry Weekes (Junior). Frederick had a long association with the architect and designer William Burges, working with him on many of his major commissions, including Saint Fin Barre’s Cathedral, Cardiff Castle, Castell Coch, Yorkshire churches and Burges’s own home in London, The Tower House.

In 1885/6 Weekes exhibited a watercolour of a similar subject to this oil at Suffolk Street titled Intruding on the Fairies Haunt (a popular musical called The Fairies Haunt was staged in London in 1883).