The owner of this picture - Dutch collector Arthur Hartog - became vice chairman of Unilever in 1938, resuming his role 1946-51. In December 1941, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese in Hong Kong while on a business trip; meanwhile, the Nazis plundered his home, Backershagen, back in the Netherlands, taking pictures by the likes of Metsu, Jan Steen and van Goyen for Hitler's personal collection. The pictures were eventually recovered in 1945, and returned to Hartog in 1948 , when he was living in London. 

This 'degenerate' picture by Dutch artist Jan Strube was not seized by the Nazis, and was likely sent to Hartog in London after the war, before it wound up in an Irish collection. Strube was known for his Modern Folk scenes depicting 'traditional' Dutch life. Several paintings and a number of etchings by the artist are in the collection of the Graphic Design Museum in Breda.