The portrait has been called a ‘shipwright of the time of Queen Anne’ because the sitter is holding a drawing of a ship. However, this is not a ship’s draught but a drawing, such as one made by the van de Veldes, and the date of the ship depicted is perhaps of the 1670s. She appears to be flying the pre-1707 ensign. This suggests the possibility that the sitter is a marine artist who may have owned such drawings to assist him in his work. He is well dressed and wears a brown coat with gold buttons, and a wig. The portrait has something of the feeling of a self portrait.