Commissioned by the sitter and paid for on December 13, 1774;
Thence by descent to his only daughter Lady Frances Stuart;
Thence by descent to her son Sir James Stuart of Allanbank;
From whose widow it was acquired in 1863 by Baroness Burdett-Coutts;
Sold by her heirs, Christie's, London, May 4, 1922, lot 66, there purchased by A. J. Reid;
with Knoedler's, New York, presumably by whom sold to;
Colonel Charles Clifton, Buffalo, New York, acquired before and 1925;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

London, New Gallery, Exhibition of the Royal House of Guelph (From George I to William IV), 1891, no. 94;
London, Royal Academy, 1893, no. 142.

A. Graves & W.V. Cronin, A History of the Works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, PRA, London, 1899, vol. I, pp. 199-200;
E. H. Coleridge, The Life of Thomas Coutts, Banker, vol. I, London 1919 - 1920, pp. 42 - 43, reproduced p. 43.;
E. Waterhouse, Reynolds, London 1941, p. 62, reproduced, plate 142A;
D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Complete Catalouge of his Paintings, New Haven and London, 2000, vol. I🌼, pp. 148-149, cat. no. 430, reproduced, vol. II, fig. 1044.

James Coutts (1733-1778) was one of the founders of Coutts Bank, and was the chief partner of the firm when Reynolds painted this portrait in 1771-73.  Coutts had married the granddaughter of George Campbell, himself the son of the original founder of the bank John Campbell.  At the death of Campbell and his own wife in 1761, Coutts became sole partner.  James took on his brother Thomas that year, and began to be involved in politics, becoming MP for Edinburgh in 1762.  He remained with the bank until ill health forced his retirement in 1775, and he died on a trip to Gibraltar in 1778.  According to Reynolds’ day book, the portrait was likely begun on November 21, 1771, with two other appointments noted in the following days.  The picture seems to have been put aside for some time, as the next sittings are recorded only in December of the following year, and a further five in 1773, as late as November 20^th.  Reynolds’s ledger records a payment for 35 guineas on December 13, 1774.¹ 

This elegant and serious portrait is painted on panel, an unusual support in Reynolds’ oeuvre.  A very small number of the artist’s paintings are painted on wood; these include oil sketches that the artist made for his more elaborate compositions, as well as at least one subject picture of the Madonna and Child (Petworth House).²  A few independent examples of portraits on panel exist, however, and the choice must have had significance for the artist and/or patron.  For Reynolds, it certainly had resonance as an emulation of the “Old Masters”; he used it for the Self Portrait of circa 1780 that he presented to the Royal Academy, which was clearly conceived en homage to Rembrandt.³ Another Self Portrait of 1788 on panel is in the Royal Collection.  For commissioned portraits its rarity suggests a conscious decision by the artist or sitter.  The two portraits of Luke Gardiner, Lord Mountjoy, that Reynolds painted are both on unusual supports; the first, circa 1772, is painted on tin (private collection), the second, of 1784, is beautifully preserved, and is on wood (private collection, USA), suggesting that Gardiner may have liked and specifically chosen these unusual supports.⁴

1  See M. Cormack, “The Ledgers of Sir Joshua Reynolds,” The Walpole Society, xliil, 1968-70, p.148.

2  For a discussion of Reynolds’ practice of making oil sketches, see D. Mannings, Sir Joshua Reynolds: A Complete Catalouge of his Paintings, New Haven and London, 2000, vol. I,  pp. 10-14.  Some of these were painted on panel or paperboard, such as his sketch for the Montgomery Sisters (see D. Mannings, op. cit. vol. I, p. 340).

3  See Mannings, op. cit. vol. I❀, p. 51, cat. no. 21, illus., vol. II, fig. 1330.

4  See Mannings, op. cit. v🎃ol. I, p. 208. nos. 697-698.  The latter of these was formerly in the von Bulow collection (Sale: Sotheby’s, New York, October 28-29, 1988, lot 9).