This statuette is one of a series of figures of women bathing or grooming themselves connected to the workshop of Barthélémy Prieur, royal sculptor to King Henri IV of France. In this example, the bronze of a seated woman wringing out and combing her wet hair references ancient art and imagery of the goddess Venus, but in an intimate, informal, and naturalistic composition. Many statuettes of these genre figures—generalized types from everyday life—were produced on modern and ancient themes, and it is likely that they were offered to collectors as sets. Differences in small details, degree of finish, and quality also suggest that the Prieur workshop or its successors cast bronzes over a considerable period during the 1600s, and that other sculptors made later versions of these pieces.