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As the name of the sitter in this work has been forgotten or detached from the painting over the years, the title assigned to the portrait (probably in the 20th century) alludes to 'The Compleat Angler' (published 1653), a well-known book on the sport by Izaak Walton.

Sporting paintings, showing country gentlemen engaged in outdoor pursuits, enjoyed considerable popularity in Britain from the early 18th century. However, nothing is known of the history of this portrait before the mid-20th century, when it was owned by publisher and printer Walter Hutchinson. Hutchinson formed a substantial collection of sporting paintings and, in 1949, founded the National Gallery of British Sports and Pastimes. The gallery was located at Derby House (renamed Hutchinson House) near Oxford Street in London. Hutchinson was presumptuous in calling it a 'national gallery' for the building and works were never presented to the nation and following his death (a year after the gallery's opening) his collection was dispersed.

Arthur Devis was a pupil of Pieter Tillemans, a painter of sporting scenes. By 1745, Devis was enjoying a successful practice as a portraitist, probably in both Lancashire and London. He exhibited at the Free Society of Artists from 1761 to 1775 and, in 1780, became its President. In later years he began to paint on glass. He died in Brighton in July 1787. Arthur Devis had a half-brother, Anthony, and two sons, Arthur William and Thomas Anthony, all of whom became artists.