Like Pissarro, Monet and Renoir, he showed more interest in its current domestic and utilitarian use than in its status as a remnant of the Ancien Régime or its past life as an ornamental lake.

[4][5] Sisley moved into 2 avenue de l'Abreuvoir at Marly in winter 1874–1875 and remained there until 1877, exploring the village and its surroundings.

Whilst he was living at Marly-le-Roi, the basin had been converted into an abreuvoir for watering horses and washing linen for the villages of Louveciennes and Marley,[7] but it was still the only part of the château's estate to be classified as a Monument historique, a title it gained in 1862.

[6] Since the 1990s, a full-size reproduction of the work has been on show near the site on which it was painted as part of the Pays des Impressionnistes project.

Lisa Portnoy Stein argues that Sisley slightly modifies their position and decreases the size of the basin, the better to show the village and its houses at the composition's centre.