The Swedish born Michael Dahl (1659-1743) specialised in portrait paintings and travelled to England in 1682 perhaps in anticipation of commissions after the death of the dominant English portrait painter, Peter Lely. After a brief sojourn in Rome, Dahl came back to England in 1687 where he remained until his death, receiving commissions from a broad spectrum of English society ranging from members of the aristocracy to the army and the Church. Although the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries was Godfrey Kneller (1646–1723), Dahl's portraits were particularly appreciated for their softer, more diffused, silvery tones, as well as his particular attention to the draperies.

In 2013, Clare Browne (former Textiles Curator at the V&A) suggested that the sitter could be possibly the English silk-designer and weaver of Huguenot origin, James Leman (1688-1745) based on the design of the silk depicted in the portrait. The pose of the sitter pointing proudly at a bolt of rich fabric suggests that he was responsible for its design or weaving rather than its sale, as he would had he been a mercer. The elaborated silk depicted in the portrait is similar to silk designs made by Leman, some examples of which are in the V&A collection (E.4457-1909).

Leman was responsible for some of the earliest Bizarre silk (c. 1706) for the Spitafields factory, inspired by imported fabrics from India and was of great importance to the English silk industry in this period. His training as a weaver and a designer was unusual in the English silk industry. He successfully developed the family business and even engaged other designers to supply him, including Christopher Baudouin and Joseph Dandridge, both considered leading figures in textile design at the time.

The sitter is depicted here as a prosperous business man. The cut of his coat and waistcoat suggests a date around 1720 and his overall appearance shows no extravagance but clearly targeted expense.