[3] Jacobus Deketh was the youngest son of Jan Goverts Deket(h) and Anna Gardin(g)ius.

His mother, Anna Gardinius, was also associated with the Frisian Admiralty, being the widow of Captain Peter Coderq,[8] before becoming the third wife of Jan Goverts Deketh.

During his service there he first became a lieutenant and later extraordinary captain and sailed to the Dutch East Indies protecting merchant ships.

In the painting he is surprisingly holding a book with the English title Guardian Volume 1, which during a restoration of the picture was discovered to have been a later pentimento, covering a miniature of a lady.

[3] The Fries Scheepvaartmuseum purchased the painting from a man from 's-Hertogenbosch, who was discovered to possess it when he showed it in an episode of Tussen Kunst & Kitsch, the Dutch version of the Antiques Roadshow.