Portrait of a Gentleman, James Douglas, Lord Aberdour, Later 14th Earl of Morton (1702–1768), with Books; Attributed to Jeremiah Davison (C.1695–1745)

This exceptionally handsome and imposing portrait is a particularly accomplished example of British grand-manner portraiture of the early Georgian period. Preserved in excellent overall condition and retaining a remarkable degree of visual richness, the painting combines a penetratingly characterised likeness with sumptuous costume, dramatic colour and an unusually eloquent intellectual setting. At more than four feet high before framing, its scale is immediately impressive: the sitter occupies the composition with the assurance expected of a man of elevated position, yet the inclusion of books and his animated pointing gesture distinguishes the portrait from the more formulaic aristocratic likenesses of the period. The picture was almost certainly conceived as the male half of a pendant pair with the closely corresponding portrait of a young woman beside an orange tree, and the two works share the same dimensions, pictorial ambition and early history.

The picture is in excellent overall condition, its principal passages remaining notably legible and visually effective. It is presented in a substantial carved and gilded frame of George II/Rococo character, richly ornamented with pierced scrolling acanthus, flowerheads and bold foliate corner and centre motifs around a gadrooned inner edge. The frame gives the portrait an architectural presence appropriate to its scale without overwhelming the sitter.

The gentleman is shown three-quarter-length before a monumental sweep of deep green drapery. His body turns across the picture while his pale, carefully modelled face meets the viewer more directly. A long, narrow nose, level mouth and intelligent, slightly reserved expression give the head an individuality quite separate from the rhetoric of the pose. The books are conspicuous enough to be more than incidental studio furniture. They proclaim learning, cultivated thought and intellectual accomplishment, while the extended hand transforms the sitter from a passive object of scrutiny into an active participant in the scene. If the identification with James Douglas is correct, this aspect of the portrait acquires particular resonance.

The portrait is said to represent James Douglas (1702–1768), then styled Lord Aberdour and later 14th Earl of Morton. Born in Edinburgh, Douglas was the eldest son of George Douglas, 13th Earl of Morton, and his second wife Frances, daughter of William Adderley of Kent. Douglas married Agatha Halyburton, daughter and heiress of James Halyburton of Pitcur in Angus, before 1731.

Jeremiah Davison occupies an interesting position in this generation of British portraitists. Born in London in about 1695 to Scottish parents, he worked in London until the mid-1730s before the Duke of Atholl encouraged him to establish himself in Edinburgh, where introductions through the Atholl family brought important commissions from the Scottish aristocracy.

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