Schalcken's residence in York Buildings, with its proximity to Whitehall Palace and St. James's Palace (see Fig. 3), provided him with the opportunity to secure work from eminent persons attached to the court. One such client, who would play a significant role in Schalcken's success in London, was Sir John Lowther (1655–1700), 2nd Baronet (and from 1696, 1st Viscount Lonsdale). A member of a prominent family from Westmorland (present-day Cumbria) in north-west England, Lowther was a rising star during the reign of William III. He was appointed to the Privy Council and made Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in 1689 and the following year, 1690, he became First Lord of the Treasury and Leader of the House of Commons. Lowther's positions at court and Parliament naturally necessitated a luxurious residence in London. In March of 1690, he rented Winchester House in the fashionable Lincoln's Inn Fields neighborhood in the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields.

It was at this location that Lowther continued to expand his large and impressive art collection. In the spring of 1694, art he had acquired and commissioned in London was probably taken north by its owner (after he had stepped down from public office), namely, to the newly constructed Lowther Hall. There, in 1696, Lowther himself compiled “A Catalogue of the Pictures bought by me,” which still survives (Fig. 21). Over the years, he had amassed an eclectic assemblage of artworks, ranging from drawings to prints, at least one miniature, and, of course, numerous oil paintings. The latter consisted of commissions, works acquired on the art market or in exchanges with other collectors. This varied assortment of pictures featured copies of works by Italian masters by Parry Walton (d. 1702; a still-life painter, restorer, picture dealer, and copyist who served as Keeper of Pictures to Charles II and James II), and, among the many original works, collaborations by Rubens (1577–1640) and Frans Snyders (1579–1657; including a painting purchased from the Arundel collection); a Hercules and Antaeus by Frans Floris (1517–1570); Narcissus by Cornelis van Poelenburgh (c. 1594/5–1667); Clowns Fighting [sic] by Adriaen Brouwer (c. 1605–1638); and four portraits by Willem Wissing (1656–1687)