Calder was closely involved with the Wadsworth Atheneum during the 1930s. The "Nellie" to whom Calder dedicated this collage was Eleanor Howland Bunce, Director Chick Austin's assistant from 1933 through 1936. In addition to many personal references linking Bunce and Calder, the artist's fantastic animals—lion, giraffe, elephant with a horse's body, and monkey—recall the costumes Calder designed for the Paper Ball, held at the Atheneum in 1936.