This painting was in the collection of Sir William Temple, (1628-1699), the writer and statesman, who married Sir Peter Osborn's daughter Dorothy in 1654-5. After the Restoration, Temple was Member of Parliament for Carlow, as well as undertaking several diplomatic missions in Brussels and in Holland, including the drafting of the triple alliance for the protection of the Spanish Netherlands. His specialised knowledge of Dutch affairs was again called upon when he was sent as Ambassador to The Hague following the peace between Holland and England in 1674, and in this post he was instrumental in arranging the marriage of William of Orange and Princess Mary. He retired from politics during the remaining years of Charles' reign and those of James, and went to live on his estate, Moor Park, where he devoted himself to laying out the grounds and to his writing. After William's invasion, and the fleeing of James, he was offered the post of Chief Secretary, but refused, preferring that a high office should be offered to his son John.

Dorothy, who was born at Chicksands, came from a staunchly Royalist family. She and her husband were devoted to one another, and she was a great help to him with his diplomatic missions, particularly as she was a lifelong friend of Queen Mary. Her beauty was ruined by small pox and her life was complicated at court by the intrigues of her sister-in-law Lady Gifford.