Little is known about the life of the subject of this painting, JacobSalvador. He was born in London, one of Moses and Sara Lopes SuassoSalvador’s seven children. His uncle Francis Salvador, a SouthCarolina plantation owner, entered the annals of colonial AmericanJewish mythology as both the first Jew elected to public office inthe colonies, when he was selected for the Provincial Congress in1774, and the first Jew to die fighting in the Revolutionary War.

Sephardi merchants,the Salvador family operated predominantly between London andHolland. It is not known when exactly, but Jacob seems to have spentsome time in America. He eventually returned to London, where died in1845.