Portrait of Miss Mathew, later Lady Elizabeth Mathew, sitting with her dog before a landscape

Elizabeth Mathew was the daughter of Francis Mathew (1738-1806) of Thomastown Castle, Tipperary, Eire, later Earl of Llandaff, and his wife, Elisha Smyth who he married in 1768. Elisha Smyth, a renowned beauty, also sat for Reynolds and her portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy, London, in 1778. Sir Ellis Waterhouse dates the primary version of the present composition, formerly in the collection of Lord Lee, London, to circa 1778 (E.K. Waterhouse, Reynolds, 1955, p. 70).

An engraving was made after the original by A.N. Sanders entitled 'Girl and Dog' (see A. Graves and W.V. Cronin, A History of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds P.R.A., 1899, III, p. 1120; IV, p. 1448).