The present preparatory sketch corresponds with a finished portrait miniature by John Smart, signed with initials and dated 1787, sold by W. H. Savill at Christie's, London, 29 June 1936, lot 60 (48 gns. to Sir S. Thompson). The miniature, in which the sitter is wearing a blue coat and white stock, is mentioned in D. Foskett, John Smart, the Man and his Miniatures, London, 1964, p. 73. A preparatory sketch for the miniature of a Mr Shakespeare 'a West Indian, in green coat', was sold Christie's, London, 26 November 1937, lot 20, the property of the artist's great-granddaughter Lilian Mary Dyer. That drawing may be identical to one of the pair of larger preparatory sketches depicting a Mr and Mrs Shakespeare, which were sold Christie's, London, 27 March 1984, lot 281, and again Christie's, London, 20 March 1990, lot 143.