Attributed to Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, 1st Baronet, R.A. (London 1735-1811 Winchester)

For much to the 20th century, the sitter was held to be Sir Brook Watson, 1st Bt., Lord Mayor of London (1796–1797). This identification may have been perpetuated because of the manner in which the drapery covers the sitter's proper left leg; Watson lost his leg to a shark in Havana while at sea in 1749, but it was his right leg rather than his left. Furthermore, there is sufficient volume in the area of the left leg to suggest that the artist intended it to be perceived as present, albeit covered.
The authorship of this portrait was traditionally given to the Anglo-American painter, John Singleton Copley. However, the painting can be more convincingly ascribed to Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, to whose portrait of Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (c. 1773; National Portrait Gallery, London) the present picture bears a striking resemblance, above all in the treatment of the hands and costume.