Though best known for modern subjects, Thomas Eakins here has rendered a romanticized image of colonial life, with a young woman spinning thread while her suitor watches. Eakins, a Philadelphia native, was likely inspired by the recreation of a colonial kitchen (with a spinning wheel) at Philadelphia's Centennial International Exhibition of 1876. Although the fair featured modern technology, its nostalgia for America's colonial past inspired the Colonial Revival movement in literature, art, architecture, and design.