Agnes Gordon Cochran Higginson (1810-1888) was, like most well-educated girls of her generation, trained to make art in pencil or using brushes. She continued drawing and painting all her life. She often painted landscapes with a special emphasis on houses, particularly New England's most emblematic, the "salt box." Approximately half of the surviving artwork created by Higginson depict them. This painting was made around 1884, as were several others. In 1884, her beloved son George died suddenly of Bright's Disease.