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This early portrait by Engleheart gives an insight into both his early commissions and technique. According to family history, G. Slater was working in insurance on London Bridge when he went to Engleheart for his portrait. The beautifully engraved reverse of this gold bracelet clasp frame states both his name and, most unusually, a location. Given the sitter’s relative youth, this may have been a commission for his parents to celebrate the end of his apprenticeship in the growing world of insurance. By the early 1700s, many familiar names in insurance were established, including the Sun Fire Office, the Union Fire Office, the Royal Exchange Assurance and the London Assurance.

Two years prior to this portrait being painted, Engleheart had exhibited his first work at the Royal Academy where he had trained. He was in his early twenties and would go on to exhibit over eighty-five miniatures in total at the Academy, his commissions sometimes totalling over thirty sittings in one day. This well-preserved early work is reminiscent of the work of John Smart (1741-1811). Born a decade earlier, Smart’s detailed portraits with their bright, often clashing, colours were the benchmark of excellence in this field.

Engleheart surrounded himself with like-minded, educated individuals, including artists and poets. His close circle of friends included William Hayley, George Romney, William Blake, John Flaxman, and Jeremiah Meyer. Clearly a convivial and clever man, he attracted a wealthy and important clientele. By the time the present work was painted, he had already painted George III several times (he would paint the king over twenty-five times during his career). In 1789, on the death of Jeremiah Meyer, he was officially appointed miniature painter to the king. Engleheart spent most of his career working in London, where this portrait was clearly painted, the place engraved on the back of the gold frame, and where he built up a virtually unrivaled reputation.