The sitter was a sculptor. She was the daughter of Field-Marshal Henry Seymour Conway. In 1767 she married John Damer, son of Lord Milton. They separated after seven years and he committed suicide in 1776. She was a friend of Horace Walpole who helped foster her career and who left her his London villa, Strawberry Hill House, on his death. She moved in literary and theatrical circles and travelled to Europe where she met Nelson, and in Paris she was granted an audience with Napoleon. She lived at York House in Twickenham and in Grosvenor Square, London, where she died at the age of 79.