Portrait of a lady, half-length, in a floral dress with a lace headdress; and Portrait of a gentleman, half-length, in a blue coat and pale yellow waistcoat

Having developed a successful career as a portrait pastellist in Dublin, Hamilton moved to London in 1764 where he found no difficulty in building up an extensive group of important and fashionable sitters including the Royal Family for whom he executed a number of portraits now in the Royal Collection.

In 1770 Hamilton exhibited 'Twelve portraits of ladies and gentlemen; in chalk' at the Society of Artists exhibition in London. Of this collection, Horace Walpole commented 'One is of the Duke of Gloucester. They are very pretty'. It is possible that the present pair of drawings were included in this group along with a comparable drawing, also dated 1770, of a Lady in a Blue Dress now in the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin.