Anne, Viscountess Pollington, later Countess of Mexborough, with her son, John Charles, later 4th Earl of Mexborough

Anne, Viscountess Pollington, with her son John Charles, painted by Lawrence in 1812, belongs to the tradition of aristocratic maternal double portraiture that had been central to British portrait practice since Van Dyck's time. The Pollington viscountcy, later elevated to the Mexborough earldom, connected the family to the Yorkshire landed aristocracy whose country houses and estate villages dominated the East Riding. Lawrence's large format at 236.2 by 144.8 centimeters places this maternal portrait in the grandest scale available within the commissioned portrait tradition, the full-length treatment asserting the viscountess's social position while the physical closeness of mother and child provides the Romantic warmth that distinguished Lawrence's approach from the more ceremonially detached treatments of aristocratic maternal portraiture. The portrait belongs to the series of important maternal double portraits that Lawrence executed during his mature career — each one demonstrating his ability to create emotional resonance within the formal conventions of aristocratic portraiture without sacrificing the social documentation that justified the commission.

Lawrence balances the formal requirements of aristocratic portraiture with genuine warmth in the relationship between mother and child. The viscountess's luminous complexion and the child's rosy features are rendered with characteristic skill, while the composition creates a natural, affectionate grouping.