Thomas Sutton (1532–1611) was the founder of the London Charterhouse, originally a hospital and school. Sutton holds a scroll in one hand and a map in the other, indicating the site where the newly founded institution was to reside. The Charterhouse emblem is depicted on the tablecloth at the lower left of the picture frame. A prolific portraitist, John Faber the Younger became a well-respected engraver of portraits starting in the 1730s. Faber’s specialty was the portrayal of seated figures.