One of a number of portraits commissioned by Abbey Theatre's original patron Annie Horniman for the opening of the Abbey Theatre, 27 December 1904. Horniman had taken the lease on the theatre of the Mechanic's Institute on Abbey Street along with another premises on Marlborough Street, Dublin. She employed architect Joseph Holloway to convert the two premises into what became the Abbey Theatre, and commissioned work from Irish artists including portraits by John Butler Yeats and stained glass windows by Sarah Purser for the new theatre.