An American soldier while based in Europe purchased this painting. We know by the date of 1871 Monet was in London however the painting could have been purchased in Holland, London or France.  Monet could have painted it in the late 1860's and sold it in London. Monet may have kept it as part of his treasures and at a later date signed and dated it. There are a number of scenarios in the provenance of the painting.
"1873 January. Durand Ruel sells one of Monet's Holland paintings to Daubigny. Starting now, recent works by Monet are sold occasionally in Paris auctions."¹
There is also data attesting to the fact that Monet dated his paintings many years after completion and in fact even put the wrong dates on them.
This is from the National Gallery, London regarding The Seine at Port-Villez (1370). "Although dated 1885, this work was almost certainly painted in 1894, when Monet painted a series of works a Port-Villez." Regarding the painting Poplars on the Epte (1310)signed and dated bottom right: Claude Monet 90. "Although dated 1890, this work was actually painted the following year. In the spring of 1891 Monet began work on a series of twenty-three paintings depicting the poplars which lined the left bank of the riverEpte."
 
"The dress worn by Madame Monet in the Barnes picture also appears in three paintings of her by Renoir assigned variously to 1872 and 1874. (R-3)(R-2)(R-1) One scholar has asked whether 'Camille, whom we are led to believe was extremely fashion -conscious, (would) have worn the same dress in 1875 that she was wearing in 1872.' He proposes that Monet may have signed and dated the Barnes painting "after the event," and suggests, therefore, that Madame Monet Embroidering (366) was done before 1875. Otherwise scholars agree about the date of the Monet, which is stylistically consistent with other works of late 1874 and 1875."²
 
Other works supporting the belated date appear in Monet by Jude Welton on page 50. "Although Monet began work on the Houses of Parliament (1351)series in 1900, he signed and dated the canvases in this group in 1903 or 1904, when he considered them finished for exhibition."

Monet misdates at least one of his earlier works. July 16 Monet informs the Berheim brothers that he has now signed canvases that they bought from him recently: some dozen works, including five Water Lilies paintings, all to be sold by the dealers to pharmaceuticals magnate Henri Canonne, who amasses a collection of over forty works by Monet almost all at once. Monet misdates at least one of the earlier works that he now signs with difficulty."³

This is from a letter to Boudin's brother from Boudin:
 "Monet is finishing his Endurmous Tartine which is costing him an arm and a leg. Perhaps the most serious physical blow to the project came when Monet had to move out of the studio in the Rue de Furstenberg. He and Bazille moved across the river to separate and much smaller premises. By the time the Salon deadline had arrived in March 1866 the painting was still not ready, and Monet submitted one of the large canvases of (59) and the full-length portrait of Camille painted at the last minute. Camille –‘Woman in a Green Dress (65).  Le Dejeuner Sur, L'Herbe, therefore was never seen by the public, the later history of the picture is sad. Monet kept it for years, then in 1878 had to leave it behind in Argenteuil, with a landlord to whom he owed rent. It was now rolled up, and by the time he could retrieve it six years later, parts had been ruined by damp. He cut out two fragments- the central group and the standing figures on the extreme left. After his death the central group was again cut down, for photographs of it hanging in Monet's studio at Giverny. The painting was based on the sketch, which Monet subsequently reworked, signing and dating it 1866.⁴
 
Monet kept paintings that were unfinished and unsigned for years. He kept paintings of Camille and family for him to remember and treasure. Some he never showed to the public, some he never sold. Jean on his Mechanical Horse (238) is a very private painting, a canvas that he kept all his life, never exhibiting it. Paul Stuckey states in his book in regards to the painting The Red Cape (257) that Monet kept it his entire life, never putting it before the public. This discovered work falls into one of these categories.
 
When war broke out in Prussia Monet left for London to avoid being called up.  Camille and Jean followed him at a later date.
 
"It is understandable that Monet's six or seven months in London were not productive- he painted only six known works and all are small."⁵
 
"The most immediate tragedy for the Impressionists was the death of Bazille, killed in action at Beaune-la-Rolandon 28 November. Most of the products of Pissaro's working life since 1855, some 1500 paintings, and including some by Monet which he was storing, were seized by the Prussians who occupied his house at Louveciennes where he had settled in 1869. Some of his works were so little regarded that the canvasses were used as duckboards in the muddy garden, and as aprons by the army butchers who turned his studio into an abattoir. However, the value of some was clearly appreciated. Certain paintings, carried off as the spoils of war to become, as a friend of Pissaro's wrote to him"ornaments in Prussian drawing rooms", were to reappear at art sales in Berlin 50 years later".⁶
 
"Monet is preoccupied with work for the forthcoming Monet-Rodin exhibition: loan arrangements with collectors, paintings to be finished, and frames. Of the 156 works he intends to show, only 145 are finally included; among these are four undated figurative compositions. It is not known why Monet withholds several others of his most important pre-1889 figure paintings: for example the two Studies Of a Figure Out -of -Doors, (1076) (1077) Young Woman on a Boat ,(1152) and his 1866 Women in the Garden."   (67)
 
Although he used Camille on larger paintings the difficulties may have convinced Monet that working out of doors on a large scale was impractical. Therefore he confined his monumental compositions to themes that could be executed in the studio and began to produce numerous smaller plein-air studies. This would be consistent with this discovered work.
 
"The decade of the 70's was the period of pure Impressionism of modestly sized canvases, few larger then could be conveniently hauled out of doors."⁸
 
"In December 1871, Monet had first rented a house in Argenteuil, signaling the end of the somewhat bohemian existence he had previously led. Henceforth, many of his paintings would reflect the life of a family man. Monet enthusiastically painted this first Argenteuil home, its garden, and the little meadow next to it, and at times depicted his wife, alone or with their son, against this backdrop, as in the painting in the Annenberg collection. On warm days Camille would sit on the grass, and is shown this way in two 1874 paintings: in Manet's The Monet Family in Their Garden (M-1) and in Renoir's Camille Monet and Her Son Jean(R-4) in the Garden at Argenteuil. Monet himself had shown her this way even earlier, in his Camille Reading, (205) the painting that prefigured the present work. Clearly Monet liked this theme, which was inspired by his wife and her characteristic manner. At this time he recorded it in Gladioli (414) of 1876 and in Camille in the Grass (415) of 1876.
 
Paul Tucker, who has researched the Argenteuil period of Monet's work, writes: "During all the first half of that year, Monet painted only scenes that were similarly restricted, among them Camille in the Grass(*??) or Two Figures in the Garden. There are ten such garden pictures from these months, more than Monet had done at any other period."⁹
 
"Although no specific source or compositional precedent has been found for Madame Monet Embroidering, (366) paintings of embroiderers and sewers were popular during the nineteenth century and treated by a variety of artists including Fantin-Latour, whose charcoal studies, paintings, and lithographs Monet may have known. He may also have been aware of Vermeer's The Lacemaker, (V-1) acquired by the Muse du Louvre in 1870. In addition, the subject very likely appealed to Monet because of its analogy to painting."¹⁰
 
"The garden subjects he painted in Argenteuil in the 1870's show lilac trees, rose bushes, dahlias, often with a young woman in summery skirts-his wife, Camille, enjoying the flickering shade on a tidy lawn. In some, the garden seems to encompass a generous slice of natural countryside, bursting beyond the limits of Monet's fences. These are enjoyable paintings, celebrations of a quiet life, making no other point than that blessings can be near at hand, shared with a pretty woman."¹¹
 
Impressionism grew and flourished in cafes, of which there were at least 24,000 in the Paris area. If Impressionism could be said to have a birthplace, the Café Guerbois was it. As Monet later recalled, 'Nothing could have been more stimulating than the regular discussions which we used to have there, with their constant clashes of opinion. They kept our wits sharpened, and supplied us with a stock of enthusiasm which lasted us for weeks, and kept us going until the final realization of an idea was accomplished. From them we emerged with a stronger determination and with our thoughts clearer and more sharply defined.'
 
Among those who frequented the café were Renoir, Monet, Pissarro and occasionally Cezanne. It is interesting to note the similarities with the painter's subjects in delicate white dresses.
 
"White, its nuances, its depth, its relationship with light and the bluish tones of shadows- all were constantly studies with passionate interest by the Impressionists. In observing the immaculate dresses worn by their models, painters gave white the prestige of a color."¹⁷

"His submissions to the salon of 1869 were turned down. He was forced to approach his friends for aid. Monet may have been convinced that it was useless to seek recognition within the framework of the art establishment. In any event, he did not attempt to exhibit again at the salon until 1880 and did so then only out of financial desperation. Instead he turned to private dealers, exhibiting works here and there and turned over in his mind the idea of finding a serious alternative to the official exhibition."¹²

Monet sold undocumented paintings to American collectors. "Monet takes undocumented working trip(s) to Amsterdam, producing a dozen paintings, including two snow scapes.
 
Monet's sales ledger; and indeed early 1873 need to be considered as another possible time frame for this campaign. The uncharacteristic absence of documentation for these important paintings might indicate that Monet exhibited or sold them outside of Paris.
 
New Yorker Louisine Elder-who will marry Horace Havemeyer in 1883-buys one of these paintings around 1877 on the advise of Mary Cassatt, marking the first purchase of a Monet work by an American collector."¹³
 
"Durand Ruel's records supply some details of both painters' dealings in London. His first two firmly recorded purchases from Monet were made in June 1871; one of these, titled Trouville, (160) is recorded as sold in London in 1871, but no details are recorded of the other. Durand-Ruel later wrote that he had immediately bought the work that Monet had done in London, but his stock-books show that these purchases were made in Paris in 1872."¹⁴
 
"May 1,1871 Opening of the International Exhibition at the South Kensington Museum, London (today the Victoria and Albert Museum), including works by Pissarro and Monet, the later contributing two figure paintings (Mediation, Camille Monet Sitting on a Sofa (163)and Camille (the reduced-scale version of Camille in a Green Dress) and perhaps a seascape. Works submitted by both artists to the Royal Academy exhibition are not accepted"¹⁵ Discovered Masterpiece (*7)

“The catalogue mentions two Monet titles, ‘Meditation’, ‘Mrs. Monet Sitting on a Sofa’ entitled ‘Repose’ (163) and an unidentified portrait of Camille”  
 
" At intervals throughout 1872, Durand-Ruel buys twenty nine paintings from Monet for a total of 9,800 francs and Manet buys The Highway Bridge under Repair Argenteuil.(195)
 
Monet's total sales this year, including sales to other dealers, will amount to 12,100 francs."¹⁶
 
We do know that there is no full account of either Monet's life or his work.
 
¹Stuckey, Charles F. Claude Monet 1840-1926, Thames and Hudson Inc. 1995 pg 197
²Great French Paintings from the Barnes Foundation Alfred A. Knope, New York 1993 pg.96
³Stuckey, Charles F. Claude Monet 1840-1926, Thames and Hudson Inc. 1995 pg 254
⁴Gordon and Forge, Monet, Abrams Inc. 1989 pg. 24
⁵Spate, Virginia Claude Monet Life and Work Thames and Hudson 1992 pg. 62
⁶Ash, Russell The Impressionists and their Art Orbis Publishing Limited, London 1980 pg. 22
⁷Stuckey, Charles F. Claude Monet 1840-1926, Thames and Hudson Inc. 1995 pg 218
⁸Gordon and Forge, Monet, Abrams Inc. 1989
⁹Kostenevich, Albert Hidden Treasures Revealed Harry N. Abrams Inc., New York 1995 pg.144
¹⁰Great French Paintings from the Barnes Foundation Alfred A. Knope, New York 1993 pg.96
¹¹Thomas, Denis The Age of the Impressionists Longmeadow Press, Stamford, Ct, 1992 pg.69
¹²Kelder, Diane The Great Book of French Impressionism Abbeville Press publishers, New York 1980 pg. 176
¹³Stuckey, Charles F. Claude Monet 1840-1926, Thames and Hudson Inc., 1995 pg. 198
¹⁴Terence Hodgkinson The Burlington Magazine NO, 907 Vol.CXX Oct. 1978 pg.638
¹⁵Stuckey, Charles F. Claude Monet Thames and Hudson, New York 1995 pg.196
¹⁶Stuckey, Charles F. Claude Monet Thames and Hudson, New York 1995 pg.196
¹⁷By the editors of Realites, Impressionism, Librairie Hachette et Societe d'Etudes et de Publications Economiques 1973, pg172
18 Wildenstein, Daniel VolI. Catalogu Raisonne, pg. 89

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