The Fullertons of Craighall, near Edinburgh, were deeply involved in the East India Company. John Fullerton of Craighall made his fortune in India, and it seems likely that his younger brother, the subject of his painting, is the 'William Fullerton, Late of Calcutta, Bengal' who became a burgess (freeman) of Edinburgh in 1763. William had bought the estate and barony of Carstairs from Sir George Lockhart the previous year. He was frequently joined at Carstairs House by his friend Ninian Lowis, who also appears to have travelled to the East. The Indian connection was maintained in the next generation: his son John served in India, while his daughter Elizabeth married William Elphinstone, a lifelong East India Company employee who eventually became one of the Company's directors. John Thomas Seton, the artist of this elegant conversation piece, was a Scottish artist who himself later worked, with considerable success, in India.