Conversation piece with figures gathered around a harpsichord

The interior in which the sitters are placed in the present work is very similar to those seen in the artist's portraits of Mr and Mrs Bull (1747) and Mr and Mrs Dashwood (1750) - the fireplace with its overmantel landscape and the view through to a window on the left-hand side recur in each. Devis regularly used the same interior designs for portraits of different sitters, and it is therefore difficult to base any definite identification of the sitters on them in the present picture.

Devis excelled as a portraitist, making a name for himself with his intricate conversation pieces. He rarely depicted recognisable interiors, but instead constucted detailed settings that helped to display his patrons' gentility, symbols of politesse that showed the sitters possessed all the necessary material as well as social graces.