The artist is in the circle of Joseph Wright (3 September 1734 – 29 August 1797), styled Joseph Wright of Derby, if not Wright himself.

Wright was an English landscape and portrait painter. He has been acclaimed as "the first professional painter to express the spirit of the Industrial Revolution". He is notable for his use of tenebrism, an exaggerated form of the better known chiaroscuro effect, which emphasizes the contrast of light and dark, and for his paintings of candle-lit subjects. His paintings of the birth of science out of alchemy, often based on the meetings of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, a group of scientists and industrialists living in the English Midlands, are a significant record of the struggle of science against religious values in the period known as the Age of Enlightenment.

Many of Wright's paintings and drawings are owned by Derby City Council, and are on display at the Derby Museum and Art Gallery.

The sitter is thought to be Jacob Wilkinson (c1722-1799) was an English businessman who served as an MP and as a director of the East India Company. According to Sir Lewis Namier, he was a Presbyterian from Berwick upon Tweed who became rich as a businessman and banker in London. By 1757 he was appearing in commercial directories and by 1759 was a substantial investor in government stock.

At some point he also acquired lands and slaves in the west Indies, at his death holding the estate of Hoghole in the parish of St Thomas-in-the-Vale on Jamaica and another estate on Tobago.

He retained links with his birthplace, where in 1765 he was mentioned as a political opponent of Hugh Percy 1st Duke of Northumberland's supporters and in the General Election of 1774 came top of the poll, becoming MP for Berwick upon Tweed in the Parliament of Great Britain. He did not stand again in the 1780 General Election, but in 1781 won a seat at Honiton.

While sitting, he also sought election as a director of the East India Company, which he achieved in 1782. However, when the government in 1783 proposed greater parliamentary control over the activities of the Company, Wilkinson resigned his directorship. He did not stand again in the 1784 General Election, so ending his political career.

He died at his home in Bedford Row, Holborn, on 24 June 1799. He was buried at St Mary's churchyard in Watford, Hertfordshire. The inscription reads, "Here lie the Remains of JACOB WILKINSON Esq Late of Grove Mill in this Parish, and an Old and Respectable Merchant of the City of London. He departed this life... on the 24th June 1799, Aged 76 Years..."