Technical Notes
The painting is unlined, and the support is a twill-weave canvas. Cusping along the edges corresponds to the tacks used to secure the painting to its stretcher. Empty tack holes along the edge of the design area are covered with paint. It is possible that Stuart tacked up the canvas while painting the face and later attached the canvas to its present stretcher before finishing the portrait.

The ground extends beyond the foldover but does not completely cover the tacking edge. Both vertical tacking edges have a fabric selvage. The back of the canvas has an excise stamp, a maker's stamp, and a supplier's stamp. The canvas is somewhat brittle. There is slight buckling along the edges, and a corner draw is visible in the top left. Minimal splitting has occurred along the foldover edge.

The canvas is attached with steel tacks to a keyable wooden stretcher with mitered corners. A strip of wood has been applied to the bottom edge of the stretcher to slightly increase the dimension. The stretcher appears to be the painting's original support.

The ground is pinkish gray, moderately thick, and does not hide the texture of the canvas weave.

The paint is thinly applied with quick, dashing brushwork, particularly in the face and shirt. Much of the painting was done using a wet-on-wet technique, though the final glazes, details, and highlights were applied after the underlying layers had partially dried. The general outline and form of the sitter were loosely painted with a darker paint. Overlaps in paint suggest that the black coat was painted before the white neck cloth, which was left in reserve.

The hair was first laid in with thin, broad applications of paint. The face was sketched in loosely with reddish brown paint and then worked wet-on-wet with thin paint applications. Very little blending of paint occurs. The flesh-colored ground layer shows through in some of the shadow areas of the face, particularly around the eyes. The background was painted after the majority of the face was completed. Final touches in the hair were made after the background was painted in with thicker applications of white and gray paint. Finishing brushstrokes in the facial features, such as the dark pink paint along the contour of the nose, remain distinct and were applied wet-on-dry. The top edge of the neckcloth overlaps some of the flesh tones of the face.

There is general surface abrasion, which has been retouched in the coat. The varnish is a moderately thick, evenly applied, layer of synthetic resin, which was likely applied in the 1980s. It appears somewhat dull and matte but shows no noticeable signs of discoloration.

Frame Notes
The frame is a gilded Louis XVI–style frame with a broad flat liner and mitered corners. The inner edge of the frame has a small cove, followed by a narrow flat with an applied three-quarter-round carved beading. A wider central cove rises to the outer top edge, which has an applied strip of carved gadrooning with center points and corner straps. The gadrooning along the left side of the frame is carved at an angle that differs from the other four edges.