There is little in the portrait to indicate whether the officer depicted is in the naval or merchant service, but the subject is clearly a sea officer of some kind. The part of the globe which is visible might in due course give some indication of where he was employed. The bow of a ship can be seen on the right. The attribution to Jonathan Richardson (1665–1745) is based on comparison with the portrait of Aylmer (BHC2520) and may now need revision.

The portrait was presented in 1947 by Sir William Dampier (originally Whetham), whose mother, née Dampier, was a native of Yeovil in Somerset very close to where William Dampier was born at East Coker, though this does not necessarily suggest a family connection.