As the inscription on the first page suggests, the largest group of sketches are related to a portrait of a standing figure with a horse, though the figure's extraordinary headdress does not necessarily mean that it is a female figure; one is reminded of Reynold's amazing portrait of Charles Coote, Earl of Bellomont in the costume of a Knight of the Bath (repr. exh. cat., Reynolds, Royal Academy, 1986, p. 118). There are other sketches of a standing female figure, some with a child, of two figures standing together, of women seated or reclining, or single heads. The freedom of the sketches makes it difficult to identify them with any particular finished works, and indeed they may demonstrate Romney experimenting with different poses rather than working on specific projects.

The sketchbook also contains formulae for using linseed and poppy oils and red and white lead for painting media and dead colouring, together with a draft letter to Mrs Hunter