By using an oddly shaped piece of wooden board rather than canvas, Ben Nicholson created a work that lies somewhere between sculpture and painting. The effect is heightened by the texture of the surface, which was prepared with a layer of special plaster that the artist cut into while it was still wet. Though now framed, Nicholson preferred to leave the work unprotected. Photographs show that instead of hanging it on a wall like a conventional painting, he kept his 'scratched surrealist guitar' propped on a mantelpiece in his studio. Nicholson produced three other paintings of guitars which were executed in 1933; two were owned by H. E. ' Jim' Ede (1895-1990) of Kettle's Yard who donated his home and contents to the University of Cambridge in 1966 and the other at Leeds.