Like many exotic narratives, the story of Aladdin and his magical lamp seems to have enjoyed considerable popularity with English and American theater audiences during the early twentieth century, as did the productions enlivened by elaborate Eastern costumes, exotic sets, and Asian acting troupes often performing in pantomime. In creating this image of a Korean actor in the role of Aladdin, Albert Herter (son of the president of the great American furniture firm of Herter Brothers) referred to the strict frontal poses employed in formal Chinese portraiture. His interest in a decorative aesthetic is revealed in the rendering of the elaborate pattern of the robes based on Qing dynasty court dress.
