The son of a Scottish judge, Charles Campbell of Lochlane became an advocate in 1738. This portrait of Campbell in Highland dress was painted sometime before 1745 by an unknown painter. It is of particular interest because he is wearing a separate kilt and plaid. At the time, most sitters wore the ‘great kilt'; a long length of tartan which acted as both kilt and plaid. This portrait is therefore one of the earliest illustrations of a ‘little kilt', which is the style usually worn today. The tartan’s vibrant red colour was a popular choice for prominent men. Red was an expensive dye and the careful matching of shades of red yarn made it more time-consuming, and therefore more expensive, to weave.