The identity of the child in the present portrait is unknown, although he is presumably a member of the Hawkins family. His classical drapery is reminiscent of similar ‘classical’ portraits of young children of the aristocracy and gentry by the portraitist Robert Byng. The pose of the child, the undraped shoulder and the presence of the pet spaniel at the lower right are all found in Byng’s repertoire. However, the rather formulaic handling of the face and draperies and the slightly awkward disposition of the child’s limbs and posture indicate an artist of lesser stature than Byng himself.