The sitter came from a family of Lancashire landowners based around Southport who had merchant interests in Liverpool. He is seen here in hunting costume, with his gun and powder horn. Placed very close to the picture plane, strongly lit and meticulously observed, the figure has a vivid presence. Wright worked as a portraitist in Liverpool between 1768 and 1771. His presence in this rapidly expanding commercial city had enormous impact on local artists, and the portraits he produced in that time stand as classic examples of provincial artistic values fusing with burgeoning mercantile taste.
Details