John Arrowsmith was the nephew of the cartographer and map publisher Aaron Arrowsmith the elder (1750–1823), whom he helped form his large collection of maps and charts, and cousin of his two sons, Aaron the younger (1802–54) and Samuel (1805–39), also map makers. He worked independently specializing in maps of foreign countries and bought the business on the death in 1839 of Samuel, who had been running it since 1834. John was a founding member of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) and a member of its council. A large number of his smaller maps appeared in the journal of the RGS. Painted about 1820 he is shown with to his left a globe, a folio of maps and a flip-top leather-covered case containing drawing instruments.

Henry William Pickersgill (1782–1875), who studied under the landscape artist George Arnald from 1802–05 (see BHC0509), was a prolific and gifted artist whose sitters included William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the Duke of Wellington. He exhibited nearly 400 pictures, mainly portraits, at the Royal Academy between 1806 and 1872.