James Maitland was 41 years old when he sat for this portrait after a distinguished career in the army.

[1] At this time, Reynolds was well known as one of the greatest portrait painters of the British aristocracy.

The three rows of ermine on his robe indicate that he is an Earl, as do the eight silver balls on raised points alternating with strawberry leaves on his coronet.

[2] Being lent on by Lord Lauderdale, is a Solomonic column, suggestive of a trip to Italy, when in fact, the Scottish peer had never been there.

[4] The painting was purchased by the Art Gallery of New South Wales, a public collection, after the gallery had received an anonymous gift fund to purchase an 18th-century portrait earlier that year.