Blanche Lazzell was a central figure among a group of American artists who left Europe at the outbreak of World War I and settled in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Called the “Provincetown Printmakers,” they became known for color woodcuts like The Violet Jug, printed from a single block. This technique saved time, labor, and materials as compared to traditional color woodblock printing. According to traditional practices, individual colors were printed from separate blocks and printers strove for an identical image from impression to impression. The Provincetown Printmakers often approached each print as a unique object and frequently made significant color changes from print to print. Lazzell’s inspiration for her many floral still lifes came from the flowers she grew around her cottage on the Provincetown wharf.