John Hoffman (1772 – 1837) joined his father Peter Hoffman in business, retiring in about 1820. Like his sister Eliza, John never married. In 1871, a local historian chronicling Peter Hoffman’s family history lauded “seven of the sons attaining wealth and distinction as merchants and contributing materially to the commercial eminence and prosperity of Baltimore.” John himself was “much esteemed for his generosity of disposition, and for his lively humor.” Recently restored, the painting’s original frame has tiny flowers at the corners and a fragile bead-and-reel border at the outermost edges. Such unconventional ornamentation suggests a local frame maker. William Hubard included the image of a similar frame on the wall behind the sitter.