Although this work does not bear Martens's distinctive HM signature, his style is unmistakeable. The pose of horse and rider bears a conspicuous resemblance to his illustration of an 8th Hussar, published in 1849 in Ackermann's Small Series (See AMOT INDEX to British Military Costume Prints 1500-1914, Set 25 No 15). The absence of a signature suggests that this picture was produced with a view to engraving, although there is no record, in the above publication or elsewhere, of any print made from it.

In the late 1840s, when posted to India, the 10th Hussars reverted temporarily from the busby (which had been re-introduced circa 1841) to a black shako of cylindrical shape with a row of gold-embroidered circles around the top in traditional Hussar style. A fine example of this headdress survives in the King's Royal Hussars Museum in Winchester