Both the larger and smaller versions of this paintings depict three people on the terrace of Marie and her husband, Félix Bracquemond's home outside of Paris, in Sèvres.

[3]: 24  [4]: 64 Similar to Bracquemond's other works, and to those of her female counterparts, critics note, the landscape is carefully considered, but is ultimately a mere backdrop for the figures depicted, who are the clear focus of the piece.

[6] This painting in particular is considered her most classically Impressionist piece, due to the incorporation of such gentle and free flowing brush strokes as well as light dispersion through foliage and onto the figures in the work, the use of shadows, and color selection.

[3]: 61 On the Terrace at Sèvres was likely displayed at the Fifth Impressionist Exhibit in the year of its completion, although Gustave Geffroy, art critic and advocate of Bracquemond's work, is the single known source of this information.

[5]: 70  [5]: 65  Oscar Ghez, a Swiss businessman and art collector, bought the larger painting in 1970 and it was shown at the Musée du Petit Palais in Geneva where it popularized Bracquemond's work to the world.