This sheet from one of the artist's sketchbooks contains a study of the head of his infant son Paul and a profile of a woman, possibly the artist's wife, Louise Lançon, his cousin whom he married in 1880. Their daughter Jeanne was born in 1881, followed by Paul in 1884.
The study of Paul's head was used for the boy crouched on the ground at the center who watches a game of marbles in a painting of 1884 (private collection, Grossvogel 2001, no. 361). The young child is next to a standing girl for whom Jeanne was the model. A thorough pencil drawing served as a study for the composition (Grossvogel 2001, no. 362; sale, Bonham's, London, 14 March 2018, lot 19, bought in).