According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art: "Her willowy form and candid expression suggest Sargent's ability to characterize and flatter simultaneously.

The reviews it received there, and at the Salon of the Société Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1894, appeared to forgive Sargent for his infamous Madame X in 1884.

The painting is among the first of Sargent's series of images of glamorous English women that culminated in The Wyndham Sisters: Lady Elcho, Mrs. Adeane, and Mrs. Tennant of 1899.

[1] Conservators at the Metropolitan note, "Sargent’s unabashedly modern portrayal of the daring and stylish Mrs. Hammersley is a superb demonstration of the artist’s confidence and skill as well that of his sitter.

[1] The painting makes an appearance in the 2020 Netflix film Rebecca based on the Daphne du Maurier novel.