The artist John Smart is celebrated for highly finished portraits which
are enlivened by brilliant color, as seen here in the beautiful blue suit.  Smart’s sitter, Arthur Freeman, was a
plantation owner on Antigua who, while in his 40s, ran away with the Governor’s
19-yr-old daughter. He sailed to England with his bride, only returning to the
island in 1771, after her father had retired. Mrs. Freeman remained in England
and it is likely this miniature was commissioned as a token from her husband
prior to his departure.