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This portrait is said to be of James Hay, the 15th Earl of Erroll (1726-1778). The Earl was of Scottish nobility, born “James Boyd” to William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock. When his great-aunt died he became Earl of Erroll (she had been the Countess of Erroll) and changed to the family name of James Hay.
The Earl married twice. His first wife was Rebecca Lockhart (d. 1761), and his second, shown here, was Isabella Carr (m. 1762). Of the earl’s four children, two succeeded him as the 16th and 17th earls, and today the earldom is held by the 22nd earl.
There is nothing specifically “Scottish” about James Hay. Instead, the earl is shown in the standard, classical pose of an English gentleman of leisure. To be “landed,” and (apparently) not work, was the goal of most British elite, even though historical evidence actually shows may worked very, very
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In the style of Sir Francis Cotes (1726-1770)
James XV, Earl of Erroll
Oil on canvas
Mercedes Lipscomb Collection
MSC Forsyth Center Galleries, Texas A&M University
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hard at managing estates, factories, shipping, business and other investments.
Eighteenth-century authors spoke frequently about demonstrating good breeding and class through “ease,” “attitude” and “quality,” and how one walked, sat, and conversed. In a way that is hard to understand today, these behavioral clues were very, very important in demonstrating you were a member of the upper class.
The earl, for example, looks as if he has not a care in the world. He leans slightly back, his right hand resting loosely off a small tabletop. Note especially how the artist worked on the shape and thickness of the back of the neck: by carefully shaping the curve of the neck, the open right hand, and other details, the painter is emphasizing the “easiness” of the earl.
The style in the late 1700s was to often to wear plain coats with richly decorated vests. Here, the vest has yellow-gold threading, while the overall color scheme is the green-yellow vest, the green coat, the more blue-green silk-upholstered chair, and the browns of tabletop and background.
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