Object Type
This is one of the portraits that the German artist Hans Holbein painted of German merchants when he was resident in London in the years 1526-1528 and 1532-1543. The merchants resided in the Steelyard, which adjoined Dowgate. It was the place where the King's steelyard or beam was set up, for weighing goods imported into London.

Subjects Depicted
There is another portrait of the same man by Holbein in the Royal Collection. Some believe that the subject is the goldsmith Hans von Antwerpen (or Hans or John of Antwerp, as he was variously known in England). The rich costume suggests, however, that the sitter was a wealthy merchant, a member of the Hanse or league of German merchants. The Steelyard, or German House, was surrounded by a wall, which contained the merchants' warehouses, weigh house, church, offices and dwellings, which they had occupied since 1320. These merchants, originally from Cologne, were free from all London tolls and were permitted to trade at fairs throughout England. English merchants, jealous of their success, tried for many years to persuade the Monarch to revoke the privileges of these 'Strangers'. They were successful only in 1597, in the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). The Steelyard was closed in 1598.