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This portrait depicts Kings Charles I, wearing a black velvet doublet, an intricate white lace collar and 'the George' medal, which hangs from a blue ribbon around his neck.
The Company once possessed three portraits of this monarch, however two have not survived. In 1650, the Merchant Taylors' Company wrote in their accounts that, by obedience to the Lord Mayor of the City of London, they had taken down and destroyed any Royal coat of arms or pictures of the recently executed King Charles I. The Company commissioned a replacement picture in 1665 of Mr. John Stone, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of London.
This portrait is the only one of the three that survives. In June 1672, Mr. John Short gave the Company this portrait painted in the style of Anthony van Dyke. This portrait is referred to in the 1693 inventory of the Company, and has hung in the Hall since its donation in 1672.