Provenance: The painting was purchased in September or October 1868 by Victoria, Princess Royal (1840–1901) and was gifted to her mother Queen Victoria (1819–1901) during a vacation at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, in Christmas 1868. It subsequently hung on the first floor of the main wing of Osborne House, Queen Victoria's favorite residence, until her death in the same location in 1901. Upon her death, the painting became property of Edward VII (1841–1910), who gave Osborne House to the nation and converted it into a training facility for the Royal Navy. The painting was therefore transferred to another royal residence. It then became property of George V (1865–1936), and at some point between 1910 and 1923 it was gifted to Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1846–1923), third daughter of Queen Victoria and married to the Danish-born Prince Frederick Christian Charles Augustus of Schleswig-Holstein (1831–1917). The painting was bequeathed to their daughters Princess Helena Victoria (1870–1948) and Princess Marie Louise (1872–1956) of Schomberg House, who owned it until Princess Marie Louise's death in 1956, after which it was sold through her estate. Sold from jeweller Lou Goldberg's (1921–2015) collection in Montreal in 2015. Waddington's Auction House, Toronto, Canada, 26.01.2017 no. 22.

During 1858–1868, Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann probably painted four versions of this motif, which is among her most significant from this period. The present painting is the only one where the location is known today. Jerichau Baumann travelled to London to achieve international recognition, and in the years 1852 to 1873, she visited the city 13 times, where she participated in many exhibitions and worked diligently towards getting her works sold. Jerichau Baumann was an enterprising businesswoman who knew how to promote her works and she built a strong network in the London art circles. As part of her promotion strategy, Jerichau Baumann had photographic reproductions made of her and her husband J. A. Jerichau’s (1816–1883) paintings. She brought these with her on her trips to London to raise awareness of their art, and in a letter to her husband on 29 June 1862, she complains that he hasn't sent her photographs of The Stocking-mender yet. (Sine Krogh and Birgitte Fink, “Breve fra London”, Copenhagen 2017, pp. 36–37). The same year, from 1 May to 1 November, the International Exhibition was held in London, where a version of The Stocking-mender was exhibited, and she propably wanted to advertise it.

Jerichau Baumann also established contacts within noble and royal circles, where she even got two audiences with Queen Victoria, who acquired a painting during one of the visits. But her distinct business acumen could also feel intrusive. In “Breve fra London” (Letters from London) Sine Krogh writes: ”Greater recognition than a sale to the British monarch could hardly be achieved in the art world of the Victorian age, but that Jerichau Baumann's view of their relationship was markedly different from that of the monarch was expressed in a letter from Queen Victoria to her daughter Victoria [...]: “I told Skerret to write to the Baron that we are rather horrified at your recommendation of Mme Jerrichau – as she plagued us well, on 2 previous occasions. […]”.” (Sine Krogh and Birgitte Fink, “Breve fra London”, Copenhagen 2017, pp. 37–39). Nevertheless, Jerichau Baumann maintained a connection to the royal house, which appreciated her art, as the later acquirement of the present painting by Princess Victoria bear witness of.

Two works that Queen Victoria acquired from Jerichau Baumann can still be found today in the art collection of the British Royal Family in The Royal Collection Trust (Princess Alexandra of Denmark, Inv. No. RCIN 402482, and The Norwegian Widow, Inv. No. RCIN 403883).