Sarah "Sally" (Sayward) Barrell (1737-1805) of York was the only child of Jonathan Sayward (1713-1797) and Sarah (Mitchell) Sayward (ca. 1719-1775), arguably the wealthiest family in the town of York at that time.

In 1758 she married Nathaniel Barrell (1732-1831) of Boston, whose family's wealth was likewise made through the maritime trade. Nathaniel was a loyalist and attended the coronation of George III in 1761. Sally was supposed to attend the coronation as well, but was prevented from traveling as she was expecting their first child.

The artist is Thomas Badger (1792-1868) of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The painting is a reproduction of the original by Joseph Blackburn (ca. 1730-ca. 1778), an English artist who worked from 1753-1763 in the American colonies. This painting was commissioned by George Barrell Emerson, a grandson of Sally's, for his second cousin George Cheever at the cost of $200 in October 1868.

A second copy, also based on the original, is located at the Maine Historical Society, painted by Sally's granddaughter Charlotte Sophia (Sewall) Eastman (1817-1896) of Hallowell. The original is on view at Historic New England's Sayward-Wheeler House in York.