Josiah Quincy (1772–1864), who knew Stuart from a former sitting in 1806, ordered an updated image as a gift for his daughter Eliza Susan. Quincy was mayor of Boston at the time and preoccupied with work to revitalize the waterfront (now Quincy Market). Stuart, whose practice required conversation, no doubt heard all about the project and used it to form his conception for the portrait. He told Quincy's daughter, "I chuse to have a view of the market he is building in the background of the picture & his hand across the door, to show he has a hand in it."