This miniature of Katherine Whitmore is from a group of 15 miniatures of the Whitmore family painted by Bernard Lens. The V&A also holds another of these (inv. no. P.13-1971). The Whitmores were second cousins of the Weld children, whom Bernard Lens also painted (see inv. nos P.61-1987 and P.65-1987). This family relation is of interest because it sheds light on the way in which a miniature painter such as Lens worked in the early 18th century.

Lens was based in London, where he taught drawing and miniature painting. He was a member of the convivial ‘Rose & Crown’ club for artists. He sketched regularly at the artists' academy set up by the queen's principal painter, Sir Godfrey Kneller. Lens also travelled regularly through England. He restored and framed miniatures in old collections, painted copies for collectors, and visited family homes to paint miniature portraits of family groups. This was presumably with the recommendation of one family to another.

Katherine Whitmore's father was William Whitmore Esquire, who owned an estate called Apley in Shropshire, and another at Lower Slaughter in Gloucestershire. He was Member of Parliament for Bridgnorth from 1705 to 1710, and again from 1713 to 1725.