About 10 miles from the resort of Ayr, on the SW Scottish coast is the small town of Mauchline. In the late 19th century, this was home to a thriving industry, producing fine but generally quite small decorative souvenir items. Chief feature is the photograph on each item, although before the invention of photography, Mauchline ware was decorated by watercolorists, or pen and ink studies. Mauchline objects were usually made from sycamore. They were then given several coats of varnish, which has helped to protect them over the years.

The particular study on this early wool ball holder is that of the Osborne House. In 1845 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne House and its 1000 acres. Osborne House was a retreat for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. They greatly enjoyed the Isle of Wight, far from the pressures court life at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. Queen Victoria, after Albert died, spent most of her time at Osborne House and she died there in 1901. The longest reigning English monarch (1837 to 1901). Since her death little has changed at Osborne and many of the royal couple's possessions, photographs and paintings are still at Osborne.