[1] [2] He had served as Governor of the Dutch East Indies during their occupation by Britain in the Napoleonic Wars and was later credited as the founder of Singapore.

[3] Raffles sat for the painting while in England to oversee the publication of his book The History of Java.

He is shown in the court dress he wore to Carlton House to receive his knighthood from the Prince Regent the same year.

Joseph was a prominent portraitist and Associate member of the Royal Academy, probably best known for his portrait of the Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.

The painting of Raffles is today in the National Portrait Gallery in London, having been acquired in 1859 in a gift from the sitter's nephew.