William Sanford Mason born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1824 after his father, the artist Sanford Mason, moved there to establish himself as a portrait painter. William spent most of his career in Philadelphia as well as Lancaster County but traveled in other eastern cities including Boston. He gained such a positive reputation that he was commissioned by the residents of the town of Columbia, Pennsylvania in 1855 to paint their prosperous town.

William was known for figural work inspired by ancient and modern literature as well as historical portraits and genre scenes. His paintings were richly detailed and lushly expressive because of his fully realized compositions. The present work, Afternoon Rest, is typical of his genre paintings - figures in the foreground carefully framed by the elements of their surroundings that themselves are part of an expansive landscape. The seated figure is looking and listening patiently as the more reposed figure is possibly speaking of the approaching rain in the distance. This reposed figure was placed in a position that is parallel with the curved wooden fence while the seated figure is anchored to the vertical tilt of the main tree that is in front of the nearby farm house. The warm wheat tones are carried into her top garment and serve as a complementary juxtaposition to the darker, cooler stormy sky beyond.

William Sanford Mason's works can be found in the following prestigious collections: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA; Redwood Library and Athenaeum, Newport, RI; and the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT.