Portrait of George Lewis, seated full-length, in a garden

The sitter was the grandson of Sir George Lewis (1833-1911), a solicitor of unusual brilliance who extricated the Prince of Wales from the Tranby Croft baccarat scandal, and advised Whistler on his bankruptcy following the libel case he brought against Ruskin in 1878. He patronised many contemporary artists - Sargent and Alma-Tadema were clients, and Burne-Jones's celebrated portrait of his daughter Katie was sold in these rooms on 14 June 2000, lot 20 (£240,000).