Rupert Potter (1832-1914), father of the children's writer and illustrator, Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), was a keen amateur photogapher and a close friend of the painter and illustrator, Sir John Everett Millais (1829-1896). Rupert would often assist Millais by photographing backgrounds for paintings and sitters for portraits. The Millais family lived mostly in London but spent long summer holidays at Annet Lodge near Bowerswell, Perthshire. Here, Millais executed many of his best-known paintings and enjoyed the company of likeminded friends, including the Potters who also retreated to Perthshire for extended summer holidays, first renting Dalguise, then later Eastwood, a large house on the bank of the Tay in Dunkeld.

The notorious and highly successful actress, Lillie Langtry (1853-1929), was also a friend of Millais; his famous portrait of her, A Jersey Lily (1878), was exhibited at the Royal Academy. In September 1879, amid affairs with Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, Prince Louis of Battenberg and the Earl of Shrewsbury, Langtry visited Millais and Potter in Perthshire. Potter choreographed formal portraits of Langtry and more relaxed poses conversing with Millais in the garden at Eastwood.