The artwork is an impressionist oil painting depicting a tender domestic scene between a mother and her young child. The woman, with her reddish-brown hair styled upward, sits in a green wooden chair while wearing a loose, flowing yellow dress. A vibrant yellow sunflower is pinned to her bodice. The young child, who is mostly unclothed, sits on her lap, facing away from the viewer and toward a small, ornate hand mirror held up for them to look into.
Compositionally, the scene is intimate and softly focused, typical of turn-of-the-century impressionism. The mother is positioned to the right, leaning slightly toward the child, while her hands rest gently on the child’s back and arms, guiding the mirror. In the background, a large, reflective surface suggests the presence of a larger vanity or mirror, which subtly repeats the figures in a ghost-like, hazy outline. The spatial layout creates a sense of private, quiet enclosure within a room.
The colour palette is dominated by warm, buttery yellows, soft flesh tones, and muted sage greens of the chair and background shadows. The light is diffused and gentle, highlighting the child’s soft skin and the textured fabric of the woman's dress. Brushwork is fluid and expressive, lacking hard edges and instead relying on painterly strokes to convey form and atmosphere, capturing a fleeting, quiet moment of maternal affection.