A portrait of a family group gathered around a table, an open door to the garden beyond. The father seated, with his son standing by his side, the mother seated, playing with a child on her lap, with another lady, possibly a maid standing behind, a Culpeper microscope on the table and a globe on the floor. The case for the microscope can be seen on the floor to the right. 

Oil on canvas, in an 18th-century carved giltwood frame with artist name plate attached 

Frame: 87 x 101cm

Canvas: 69 x 85cm

Edward Culpeper (1670-1737), a mathematical instrument maker based in London, developed this type of microscope between 1725 and 1730 and it would have been a prized object for a discerning gentlemen who had an interest in science. The microscope had a tripod stand and also featured a concave mirror at the base instead of a flat mirror.

Hendrik Pothoven (25 December 1725 – 29 January 1807) was a painter from the Northern Netherlands.

He was a pupil of Frans de Bakker and Philip van Dijk and a follower of Frans van Mieris and Adrien van de Velde.  He is best known for his portraits, landscapes, and engravings. He worked in his native Amsterdam until 1764, when he moved to The Hague, where he lived until he died in 1807.