Lady Mary Wortley Montagu née Pierrepont (1689-1762) was the eldest child of Evelyn Pierrepont, later 1st Duke of Kingston (1667-1726), and his first wife, Lady Mary Feilding (1668/1669-1692). In 1712, she married Edward Wortley Montagu (1678-1761), by whom she had two children, Edward (1713-1776) and Mary (1718-1794). In 1716, Lady Mary accompanied her husband on his embassy to Constantinople, writing extensively about her travels through Europe and life in Turkey. On her return to England, Lady Mary brought back the practice of inoculation against smallpox, having seen its success in Turkey. It was she who persuaded Queen Caroline to inoculate the royal family, thus popularizing the procedure. Lady Mary later separated from her husband, and proceeded to travel throughout France, Switzerland and Italy during her later years. She returned to England, a celebrated traveller, early in 1762, shortly before her death.
There is another example by Zincke of this sitter in the Portland Collection at Welbeck Abbey (see R. Goulding, Catalogue of Miniatures at Welbeck Abbey, Oxford, 1916, p. 154, no. 220).
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was often represented wearing Turkish dress and a turban, as can be seen in portraits of her by Jonathan Richardson (1725), Charles Jervas (after 1716) and Jean-Baptiste Vanmour (circa 1717).