Place was an Irish painter who specialised in miniatures; he trained in Dublin, came to England around 1790 and in 1797 set off for Lucknow in the employment of the East India Company. Saadat Ali Khan ruled as Nawab of Oudh from 1798 and was an ally of the British, to whom he was obliged to cede much of his territory. He employed Robert Home (1752-1834) as his court portrait painter (see RCIN 408019). Sitter and artist for this portrait are identified on a print after it by William Say (1768-1834), published on 1 January 1800, which also states that it was painted at Lucknow for Peregrine Treves (1733-1817), but that it was then in the collection of the Prince of Wales. Treves was a friend of the Prince of Wales and prominent East India Company official, serving as Postmaster-General in Calcutta. The Nawab is shown with his hand resting upon a table covered with a red cloth and littered with writing equipment; wearing rich silk costume of dark blue with a shawl wrapped round the waist and jewelled slippers.