Frederick, Prince of Wales, was the son of George II and father of George III. He spent his childhood in Hanover, with his parents until his grandfather, George I, succeeded to the British throne in 1714 and then in the care of his great-uncle, Ernest Augustus (1674-1728). He finally arrived in England in 1728 to take up his position as Prince of Wales, after his father George II had succeeded as King in 1727.

The sitter in this portrait must be aged between five and seven; if it does depict Prince Frederick it must have been painted at Hanover in 1712-14, before the Hanoverian succession. The sitter is shown full-length, standing in an interior, facing half to the left, holding his hat in his right hand which he rests on a marble topped rococo table; he wears an embroidered blue coat with pink cuffs and a pink waistcoat over blue breeches.