Small Mouton Sun melds together two of the sculptor's key inspirations: nature and war. The ledges which can be seen protruding from the surface of the sculpture mimic bracket fungi which grow on the trunk and branches of trees. Armitage would sketch the woods behind Corsham regularly when he taught there and this fungus was a prominent feature. The ‘irregular oval shape’ of the piece comes from viewing tanks in the distance and seeing the curvature of the tracks and body of the armoured vehicles.

This sculpture is named Small Mouton Sun as a reference to the commission he completed in 1963 for Philippe de Rothschild. Rothschild approached Armitage after seeing his sculpture Diarchy in New York at the Museum of Modern Art and asked him to create a sculpture to feature in his vineyard, Château Mouton Rothschild.