Portrait of Lady Mordaunt, three-quarter-length, seated, in a brown dress and oyster satin wrap, by a column

The present portrait uses the same pose for the sitter as Lely's 'non-role' portrait of Barbara Villiers, Countess of Castlemaine, from the 1660s, of which there are several versions, most notably that in the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery (see Painted Ladies: Women at the court of Charles II, National Portrait Gallery, London 2001, no. 40).
Elizabeth Mordaunt (c.1633-1679), née Carey, was the daughter and sole heir of the Hon. Thomas Carey, Groom of the Bedchamber (and second son of Robert, 1st Earl of Monmouth) and his wife Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir Thomas Smith of Parson's Green. In around 1656, Elizabeth married John Mordaunt (1626-1675), second son of John, 1st Earl of Peterborough, and Elizabeth, daughter of William, Lord Howard of Effingham. John Mordaunt took a leading part in effecting the Restoration in 1660, and was knighted the same year in gratitude by the King.