This is a sitting portrait of Sir Joseph Terry, a benefactor and Governor of the Company of Merchant Adventurers in 1881–1882. The sitter was a British confectioner, industrialist and Conservative politician who served as Lord Mayor of York on three occasions. He is widely seen as the driving force behind the success and expansion of the confectionery company Terry's, originally co-founded by his father. Later in his career, he would oversee the company's transition and specialisation into famous chocolatiers. He is depicted wearing the Lord Mayor’s robes and Chain of Office over an 18th-century style jacket and lace cravat.