By 1910, Goscombe John had enjoyed a decade of popular and critical success, winning many commissions for major public monuments, particularly in Wales. He became a Royal Academician in 1909, and was knighted in 1911. This figure was first exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1911. It is a portrait of Basil Webb, the only son of Henry Webb, of Llwynarthau, Monmouthshire, a Liberal MP and mining engineer, who was a director of David Davies's Ocean Coal Company. The modelling, pose and scale of this figure recall Andrea del Verrocchio's 'David'. The sitter served as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Welsh Guards during the First World War and was killed in December 1917. This sculpture was included in 'An Exhibition of Works by Certain Modern Artists of Welsh Birth or Extraction' in 1913-14.