Haaxman made this painting as a kind of advertisement for The Hague firm of carriage makers Hermans en Co. The coach depicted was ordered by the Javanese sultan Mangkoe Nagoro IV. The Roman numeral IV, a reference to the Javanese ruler, can be seen in the Dutch coat of arms on the door of the carriage. Around 1900, the authority of the local rulers was sometimes closely intertwined with that of the colonial regime.