'Portrait of a gentleman' by the British School of Artists, 19th century.
A full-length portrait showing the unidentified subject standing, slightly to left, holding a letter in his right hand. His right hand rests on the pedestal of a fluted column, which occupies the right of the composition. He is wearing a black tail coat, black breeches and waistcoat with a white stock and stands on a red patterned carpet. To the left is a table covered with a green cloth on which sits an ink stand and some books. On corner of the cloth is folded back to reveal a turned table leg. The background consists of a red drape with a window, to the left, looking out to a seascape with two vessels. In the right foreground folios rest against the base of the column.