Interestingly, the frame, which appears to be poplar (but then I'm no expert) is only gilt on the face and unfinished on all other surfaces. It is marked "Ford" on the top edge as the painter likely had it in a box with others he had completed and this was a likely means of identifying the framed image without having to remove it from its carrier.
P.S. - After review of many family letters on this subject and a quick study of the practices of traveling portraitists of that period I've concluded that this isn't the good Reverend Uncle Daniel but rather his grandfather, Daniel Ford. While I've no doubt that the first/given name of Daniel was correctly passed down via the oral tradition, I do doubt that the traveling painter would use somebody's middle name to identify the portrait in his crate of framed portraits awaiting delivery.
Daniel Ford served in the American Revolution and was later a ship's captain.
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A quick note that this may not be Daniel Ford Richardson but his Grandfather Daniel Ford, Captain/Shipmaster.
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