diff --git a/docker/utils/__init__.py b/docker/utils/__init__.py
index 6189ed83b..0ec1c7c8e 100644
--- a/docker/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/docker/utils/__init__.py
@@ -7,3 +7,8 @@
 
 from .types import Ulimit, LogConfig # flake8: noqa
 from .decorators import check_resource #flake8: noqa
+from .context import (
+    create_context_from_path,
+    is_remote,
+    ContextError
+) # flake8: noqa
diff --git a/docker/utils/context.py b/docker/utils/context.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..964a1440d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker/utils/context.py
@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+import os
+import tarfile
+import six
+from collections import namedtuple
+
+
+class ContextError(Exception):
+    def __init__(self, msg):
+        self.message = msg
+
+
+INVALID_CONTEXT_FORMAT_LONG_FMT = """
+Build context at %s is not supported by Docker\\n
+The path must point to either:
+\t * A readable directory containing a valid Dockerfile
+\t * A tarball (optionally compressed with gzip, xz or bzip2)
+\t * A valid Dockerfile
+\t * A valid URL for a remote build context.
+%s"""
+
+
+# these prefixes are treated as remote by the docker daemon
+# (ref: pkg/urlutil/*) as of v1.6.0
+REMOTE_CONTEXT_PREFIXES = ["http://",
+                           "https://",
+                           "git://",
+                           "git@",
+                           "github.com/"]
+
+
+class BuildContext(namedtuple('BuildContext',
+                              ['format', 'path', 'dockerfile', 'job_params'])):
+    def __new__(cls, context_format,
+                path,
+                dockerfile='Dockerfile',
+                job_params=None):
+        ctx_tuple = super(BuildContext, cls)
+        return ctx_tuple.__new__(
+            cls,
+            context_format,
+            path,
+            dockerfile,
+            job_params,
+        )
+
+
+def make_context_from_tarball(path, dockerfile='Dockerfile'):
+    return BuildContext(
+        'tarball',
+        path,
+        dockerfile=dockerfile,
+        job_params={
+            'encoding': 'gzip',
+            'custom_context': True,
+            'fileobj': open(path)
+        }
+    )
+
+
+def make_context_from_dockerfile(path, dockerfile='Dockerfile'):
+    return BuildContext(
+        'dockerfile',
+        path=path,
+        dockerfile=dockerfile,
+        job_params={'fileobj': open(path, 'r')},
+    )
+
+
+def make_context_from_url(path, dockerfile='Dockerfile'):
+    return BuildContext(
+        'remote',
+        path,
+        dockerfile=dockerfile,
+        job_params={},
+    )
+
+
+def make_context_from_directory(path, dockerfile='Dockerfile'):
+    return BuildContext(
+        'directory',
+        path,
+        dockerfile=dockerfile,
+        job_params={}
+    )
+
+
+context_builders = {
+    'tarball': make_context_from_tarball,
+    'dockerfile': make_context_from_dockerfile,
+    'remote': make_context_from_url,
+    'directory': make_context_from_directory
+}
+
+
+def create_context_from_path(path, dockerfile='Dockerfile'):
+    if path is None:
+        raise ContextError("'path' parameter cannot be None")
+    if dockerfile is None:
+        raise ContextError("'dockerfile' parameter cannot be None")
+
+    _dockerfile = dockerfile
+    _path = path
+    if isinstance(_dockerfile, six.string_types):
+        _dockerfile = dockerfile.encode('utf-8')
+    if isinstance(_path, six.string_types):
+        _path = path.encode('utf-8')
+
+    context_maker = detect_context_format(_path, _dockerfile)
+    if context_maker is None:
+        raise ContextError("Format not supported at "
+                           "%s [dockerfile='%s']." % (path, dockerfile))
+
+    return context_maker(path, dockerfile)
+
+
+def is_remote(path):
+    if path is None:
+        return False
+
+    _path = path
+    if isinstance(_path, six.binary_type):
+        _path = _path.decode('utf-8')
+    for prefix in REMOTE_CONTEXT_PREFIXES:
+        if _path.startswith(prefix):
+            return True
+    return False
+
+
+def detect_context_format(path, dockerfile='Dockerfile'):
+    if is_remote(path):
+        return context_builders['remote']
+
+    try:
+        os.access(path, os.R_OK)
+    except IOError as ioe:
+        raise ContextError("%s: %s" % (path, ioe))
+
+    if os.path.isdir(path):
+        if dockerfile in os.listdir(path):
+            return context_builders['directory']
+        else:
+            raise ContextError("Directory %s does not contain a Dockerfile"
+                               " with name %s" % (path, dockerfile))
+    elif is_tarball_context(path):
+        return context_builders['tarball']
+
+    elif os.path.isfile(path):
+            return context_builders['dockerfile']
+    else:
+        return None
+
+
+# The actual contents of the tarball are not checked; this just makes sure the
+# file exists and that this Python installation recognizes the format.
+def is_tarball_context(path):
+    if path is None:
+        return False
+    _path = path
+    if isinstance(_path, six.binary_type):
+        _path = _path.decode('utf-8')
+    return (not os.path.isdir(_path) and (_path.endswith('.xz') or
+                                          tarfile.is_tarfile(_path)))
+
+
+def is_directory_context(path, dockerfile='Dockerfile'):
+    dockerfile_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(path, dockerfile))
+    return os.path.isdir(path) and os.path.isfile(dockerfile_path)
diff --git a/docs/context.md b/docs/context.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..47a3b6388
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/context.md
@@ -0,0 +1,68 @@
+# BuildContext object
+An immutable representation (named tuple) of a Docker build context. This object
+has the following fields:
+* path (str): the absolute filesystem path to the build context
+* format: a string tag for the context type; one of 'tarball', 'dockerfile',
+'remote', 'directory'.
+* dockerfile: the name of the Dockerfile for this context.
+* job_params: a helper dictionary holding the parameters for a `Client.build`
+invocation. The `create_context_from_path` function populates this dictionary
+with the specific combination of values that is valid for the kind of build
+context represented by the tuple. For example, if the `BuildContext` represents
+a tarball context, its `job_params` field will contain a dict with the mappings:
+```python
+job_params = {
+  'encoding': 'gzip'
+  'custom_context': True
+  'fileobj': open(path)
+}
+```
+When the `BuildContext` represents a single Dockerfile context, `job_params`
+will contain:
+```python
+job_params = {
+  'fileobj': open(path)
+}
+```
+## create_context_from_path
+
+This is an intermediary call that you can use to create a `BuildContext`. Using
+the returned object you can perform custom validation and filtering steps before
+invoking `Client.build`. In a call to `create_context_from_path`, the parameter
+`path` can point to any kind of resource supported by the docker daemon, namely:
+* A local path to a directory containing a Dockerfile.
+* An URL pointing to a git repository or a remote Dockerfile.
+* A local path to a tarball containing a pre-packaged build context.
+
+The returned `BuildContext` object can be used in an invocation of
+`Client.build` as such:
+```python
+from docker import Client
+from docker.utils.context import (
+  create_context_from_path,
+  ContextError
+)
+cli = Client(base_url='tcp://127.0.0.1:2375')
+try:
+  ctxpath = '/context/path'  # or '/context/Dockerfile',
+                             # or '/context/ctx.tar'
+                             # or 'https://github.com/user/repo.git'
+  ctx = create_context_from_path(ctxpath)
+except ContextError as e
+  print(e.message)
+
+# here you can perform custom validation, filtering, inserting, etc. on 'ctx'
+
+cli.build(ctx.path, **ctx.job_params)
+```
+
+**Params**:
+
+* path (str): Path to the build context.
+* dockerfile (str): path within the build context to the Dockerfile
+
+**Returns** (namedtuple): A `BuildContext` object.
+
+**Raises** ContextError: when the contents at `path` are either inaccessible or
+inconsistent with the parameters (e.g. a custom 'Dockerfile' name was specified
+but the file does not exist at `path`.
diff --git a/tests/test.py b/tests/test.py
index 8f082808c..1dc182c30 100644
--- a/tests/test.py
+++ b/tests/test.py
@@ -2424,6 +2424,49 @@ def test_build_container_invalid_container_limits(self):
             })
         )
 
+    def test_build_container_from_context_object_with_tarball(self):
+        base_path = os.path.join(
+            os.path.dirname(__file__),
+            'testdata/context'
+        )
+        tarball_path = os.path.join(base_path, 'ctx.tar.gz')
+        context = docker.utils.context.create_context_from_path(tarball_path)
+        try:
+            self.client.build(context.path, **context.job_params)
+            if context.job_params['fileobj'] is not None:
+                context.job_params['fileobj'].close()
+        except Exception as e:
+            self.fail('Command should not raise exception: {0}'.format(e))
+
+    def test_build_container_from_context_object_with_custom_dockerfile(self):
+        base_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(
+            os.path.dirname(__file__),
+            'testdata/context'
+        ))
+        custom_dockerfile = 'custom_dockerfile'
+        try:
+            context = docker.utils.context.create_context_from_path(
+                base_path,
+                dockerfile=custom_dockerfile
+            )
+            self.client.build(context.path, **context.job_params)
+        except docker.utils.context.ContextError as ce:
+            self.fail(ce.message)
+        except Exception as e:
+            self.fail('Command should not raise exception: {0}'.format(e))
+
+    def test_build_container_from_remote_context(self):
+        ctxurl = 'https://localhost/staging/context.tar.gz'
+        try:
+            context = docker.utils.context.create_context_from_path(ctxurl)
+            self.assertEqual(context.path, ctxurl)
+            self.assertEqual(context.format, 'remote')
+            self.client.build(context.path, **context.job_params)
+        except docker.utils.context.ContextError as ce:
+            self.fail(ce.message)
+        except Exception as e:
+            self.fail('Command should not raise exception: {0}'.format(e))
+
     #######################
     #  PY SPECIFIC TESTS  #
     #######################
diff --git a/tests/testdata/context/Dockerfile b/tests/testdata/context/Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d1ceac6b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testdata/context/Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+FROM busybox:latest
+CMD echo "success"
diff --git a/tests/testdata/context/ctx.tar.gz b/tests/testdata/context/ctx.tar.gz
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c14e5b971
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/testdata/context/ctx.tar.gz differ
diff --git a/tests/testdata/context/custom_dockerfile b/tests/testdata/context/custom_dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d1ceac6b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testdata/context/custom_dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+FROM busybox:latest
+CMD echo "success"