Footnotes

The central image is similar to, and possibly based on the Portrait of Francis de Chateaubriand Presented by St Maurice, by Jean Hey, which is held in The Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. This picture was bequeathed by Archibald McLellan in 1854 and exhibited extensively throughout the end of the 19th century and start of the 20th century; including venues such as the Burlington Fine Arts Club London in 1892 and the New Gallery London in 1899, further venues listed at http://nicepaintings.org.
It is likely that the individual who commissioned this work has been depicted as the kneeling figure in the central panel however it may also be a memorial object. It is not known if this man or Traquair ever viewed Hey's work.

Accomplished in many art mediums Traquair made swift progress in enamel work. Starting at the end of the late 19th century, probably inspired during a stay at the art collector Sir Carmichael's house, she wrote in a letter to a friend Percy Nobbs;
"Not that I shall ever do decent work but I may be able to do something good enough to use as secondary matter, to say nothing of the pleasure I get pottering amongst the ground glass, mortars, acids, etc."
Elizabeth Cumming, Phoebe Ann Traquair 1852-1936, NGS in association with NMS publishing, Edinburgh, 2011, p74.
Traquair become critically acclaimed by 1906 at the eighth Arts and Crafts Society Exhibition in London.
She used techniques such as mixing small pieces of foil with unfired flux, causing high reflection and resulting in a three dimensional effect. This can be seen within sections of the triptych.

The frame although hallmarked has no apparent maker's mark. At the time Ramsay Traquair, Phoebe's son would often frame her enamels. The coat of arms are engraved in contemporaneous style with an heraldic composition including arms of the Earls of Coventry.