In Evelyn, Duchess of Devonshire Sargent portrayed the formidable Duchess turning a pensive gaze towards the viewer. Lady Evelyn Fitzmaurice (1870–1960) was the wife of the Hon. Victor Cavendish, Duke of Devonshire. It is said that ‘preferring inanimate objects to humans’, she was ever critical of her family and her servants. However, she had a passion for restoring the tapestries of Chatsworth.  (McConkey, 1987)