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This superb portrait was painted in the year that Smart departed England for India. He left on 19 April 1785, arriving in Madras in early September. Cat. 24, also painted in 1785, shows the ‘I’ for India included in all subsequent commissions during his time there, so it can be assumed that this portrait was painted prior to his voyage. This portrait is a demonstration of Smart’s prowess at the height of his artistic powers. Although the move to India was a risk for any artist in the eighteenth century, Smart must have left England behind with a confidence that he would continue what had already been a glittering career.

As seen here, Smart’s talents partially lay in the almost obsessive pictorial description of his sitter’s clothing, every hair of the fur trim and even the shadow of the lace border have been depicted in this miniature. Unusually for Smart, this portrait is somewhat erotically-tinged, the sapphire brooch on the sitter’s dress placed in a suggestive position.