Later Stuart Portraits Catalogue

James Drummond, 4th Earl of Perth (1648-1716), Lord Chancellor of Scotland

c.1678-80
Painting by Godfrey Kneller, three-quarter-length wearing cuirass. Earl of Perth (J. D. Stewart, Godfrey Kneller, 1983, no.568).

c.1679
Drawing by William Faithorne II, bust-length oval, engraved W. Faithorne (W. Faithorne ad Vivum delin et sculp. … Anno Aetat:31.). An oval miniature version with drape clasped over shoulder, inscribed W.f., is at Drummond Castle.

c.1682
Painting by Godfrey Kneller three-quarter-length standing, right hand on hip, left elbow on plinth, signed. Formerly Keith Hall, sold Christie’s 18 March 2009, lot 11. A copy at Drummond Castle (J. D. Stewart, Godfrey Kneller, 1983, no.569). Engraved R. White as bust-length oval (1st state has: Aetatis Suae 34/Lord Iustice Generall of the Kingdome of Scotland. One of the Extraordinary Lords of the Session. And one of the Lords of his Maies most Honble Privy Councell in that Kingdome. Anno 1682; a later state has: Aetatis Suae 36/Lord High Chancellor of the Kingdome of Scotland & one of his Maties most Honble Privy Council of Scotland and England 1685).
A plumbago drawing by Robert White in the Victoria and Albert Museum (P95-1929), signed and dated 1685, relating directly to this pattern, shows him wearing a chancellor’s gown. A miniature variant, signed BL in monogram, is at Drummond Castle.

1684
Unattributed painting, three-quarter-length standing in armour, right hand on hip, left hand supporting his red drape, a plumed hat to the right, inscribed … Chancellor of Scotland 1684. Christie’s, 22 March 1968, lot 66, when in poor condition, from Innergellie House.

c.1685
Painting attributed to Kneller, three-quarter-length seated in earl’s coronation robes, his coronet to the right on a cushion. Christie’s, 28 June 1946, lot 18, from Maj. S. H. Drummond Moray. Engraved 1842 titled ‘by Sir G. Kneller 1686, at Blair Drummond’ (Histories of Noble British Families, II, 1846). A half-length oval, using the same head, is at Keir.

c.1686
Painting by John Riley, half-length oval; Scottish NPG (PG 1850), from the Earl of Crawford, Christie’s 11 October 1946, lot 136. A slight variant by Riley (differences in cravat and wig) is at Drummond Castle, exhibited Age of Charles II, RA, 1960, no.364. Another variant, wearing chancellor’s gown, engraved R. White (I. Roiley pinxit R. White sculp.1686 … Lord High Chancellor of the Kingdome of Scotland). See NPG 2153.

1713
Painting by a follower of A.-S. Belle, half-length in painted oval with Garter collar and robes. Christie’s, Edinburgh, 1 November 2001, lot 5, formerly on loan to the Scottish NPG (PG L223; illus. Scottish NPG cat. 1990, p 233).

c.1714
Painting by Nicolas de Largilliere, half-length with star of the Garter. Private collection (illus. Journal of the Courtauld and Warburg Institutes, XV, 1952, p 124). Engraved 1845 from a drawing by G. P. Harding, titled ‘From the original by N Largilliere 1714 at Drummond Castle’ (Histories of Noble British Families, II, 1846). A copy in the musée d’art et d’histoire, Neuchâtel.

An unattributed whole-length painting from the Gordon Castle sale, 2nd day, 30 August 1938, lot 945, remains untraced.

Doubtful Portrait
The half-length portrait attributed to Largilliere, exhibited La cour des Stuarts à Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 1992, no.239 lent by the Grimsthorpe and Drummond Castle Trust, shows the 2nd titular Duke of Perth (1674-1720).



This extended catalogue entry is from the National Portrait Gallery collection catalogue: John Ingamells, National Portrait Gallery: Later Stuart Portraits 1685-1714, National Portrait Gallery, 2009, and is as published then. For the most up-to-date details on individual Collection works, we recommend reading the information provided in the Search the Collection results on this website in parallel with this text.