Charles (1662–1748), 6th Duke of Somerset

Charles, 6th Duke of Somerset, had died in 1748, making this portrait likely a posthumous copy or a work painted much earlier in Dance's career than the circa 1773 attribution suggests. The 'Proud Duke'—notorious for his extreme consciousness of rank, requiring servants to stand in his presence and said to have disinherited a daughter who sat down in his presence—was one of the most colorful aristocratic personalities of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. A posthumous portrait of such a notable figure might have been commissioned for an institutional or family collection. Dance's engagement with historical portraiture of notable individuals alongside his contemporary commissions reflects the portrait market's demand for visual documentation of the British aristocracy across time.

The formal full-dress portrait follows early Georgian conventions of aristocratic representation, with ermine robes and ducal regalia conveying rank. The polished finish is characteristic of Dance's careful approach to prestigious commissions.