The identity of the sitter and artist are unknown, although the coat of arms at the upper left indicates that the boy, aged around ten years old, is a member of the Delaval family. Cole states: ‘A boy of the Delaval family, with coat of arms, Delaval quartering Greystock, Selby, Fenwick and others.’ On stylistic grounds it would appear to date from the early seventeenth century. It has previously been called ‘circle of Mierevelt’, with reference presumably to the Dutch painter Michiel van Mierevelt (1566–1641). Mierevelt, who worked in Delft, did not visit England.