Wallis sold the painting to Augustus Egg in 1856, and Egg sold the right to make engraved reproductions.
The male figure may be based on Thomas Seddon or Augustus Egg, both painter friends of Hunt.
In his 1953 radio interview, he named Augustus Egg (1816-63) as a painter for whom he had particular esteem.
Augustus Egg - Past and Present (triptych)
He answered "Augustus Egg I'd put among the highest."
The device of the incriminating letter was used to better effect in a similar context by Augustus Egg in his 1858 painting Past and Present, No. 1.
He visited Epsom in May 1856 with Augustus Egg and made a initial sketch.
Past and Present is the title usually given to a series of three oil paintings made by Augustus Egg in 1858, which are designed to be exhibited together as a triptych.
Loving both Augustus Egg and Pablo Picasso and visiting them for decades under the same roof, I feel sentimental about tearing them asunder forever.
