Otto Jacob Marstrand was the oldest brother of a children's flock of 5. In 1830, he emigrated to the Virgin Islands (Dansk Vestindiske Øer), where he settled as a timber merchant and later appointed consul and chief fire officer in the town of Charlotte Amalie on the island of St. Thomas. Here he married in 1845 Annie Dorothea Nissen (1818–1886).

It is difficult to determine Otto Marstrand's precise age on this portrait. Perhaps it was painted in 1857, when the whole family was in Copenhagen and together with the nanny was portrayed in Frederiksberg Have (Garden), then Otto is 48 years. Or maybe the portrait is from in 1864, where the portrait of Emily also was painted. At this time Otto was 55 years old.

Another portrait of Otto Marstrand is known. In 1841, when he visited Denmark for the first time, since he emigrated, he was portrayed by Christen Købke. At this time Marstrand was in Rome, hence he could not paint the brother himself, so the family's good friend, Købke, was chosen instead.

Provenance: Passed down through the artist's brother’s family until today. It has therefore never been up for auction before. Otto Marstrand’s daughter Emily (portrayed in lot no. 49 and no. 50) inherited the painting after her father. Emily married Gustav Oscar Gyllich in 1871. They lived in the West Indies and had 5 children. The current owner's grandmother was their youngest daughter Edna. When she was little, the family moved to Denmark. Edna married Fredrik Fredriksen and had a son, Oscar, who changed his last name to his grandmother's maiden name Gyllich. Oscar died young, so the painting has passed from Emily to Edna to the current owner.