Mrs Townley Ward, a daughter of William Hucks of Knaresborough, was considered one of the most beautiful women of the late 18th century. John Thomas Smith in his Nollekens and his Times, made the following observation of a drawing of The Finding of Moses by John K. Sherwin in which the Princess Royal is depicted as the Pharaoh's daughter and the ladies of the court as her attendants: 'Lady Duncannon, and her sisters, the Duchess of Devonshire, were in the centre of the composition, surrounded by the rest who composed the group, the Ladies Jersey, the Duchess of Rutland, etc. This drawing, from the preference shown, made Sherwin many enemies in society. Indeed, on the other hand, he gave much offence even to some of those ladies whose portraits he had introduced, by placing that of Mrs. Townley Ward, whose features were certainly in the grand cast, near to a Duchess, whose beauty could not stand the comparison' (A. B. Chamberlain, George Romney, New York, 1910, p. 327). Mrs Townley Ward was painted by George Romney in 1780 (see op. cit., p. 265, pl. LIV).
The portrait miniature with which the present preparatory sketch corresponds, dated 1782, was sold Christie's, London, 2 May 1961, lot 212 (the Property of a Nobleman); Christie's, London, 6 July 1971, lot 62 (as 'A Lady') and Christie's, London, 29 November 1977, lot 79. It is also illustrated in Connoisseur, October 1979, p. 139 (advertisement D. S. Lavender). See also D. Foskett, John Smart, The Man and his Miniatures, London, 1964, p. 75.