Portrait of Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland

Sargent painted this in 1904, when a full-length by him was what London society wanted above all else, and he was already tiring of the work. The sitter is Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland, then 37, mistress of Stafford House across from Buckingham Palace and one of the great hostesses of the day. She looks the part here, poised and full-length in a green gown, a hand resting on a fountain. Away from these rooms she was known by another name. The pottery towns of Staffordshire lay near the family seat, and for about ten years she campaigned against the lead glazes that were poisoning the workers who dipped the ware, which earned her the nickname Meddlesome Millie and, in the end, helped push through a law that lowered the lead.