What do you normally carry in your day sporran?

[JPS]

We should keep in mind that these full-length oil portraits were quite expensive, and that a wealthy person laying out a large sum of money for a portrait to be displayed for centuries in his manor would hardly be disinterested in how he was portrayed.

The client would be giving input, criticising, and perhaps micro-managing each step of the process, making sure that he was portrayed exactly how he wanted to be seen to the present and future generations.

That's actually what I'm getting at. It's not to say this this is a deception. I'm not even saying that the Lord Duffus didn't wear his accessories and weaponry down the front. I'm only saying that portraying him in his day-to-day state of dress mightn't be the point of this portrait, and it's worth pausing before drawing any conclusions about "the way it was done".

[OC Richard]

That's actually what I'm getting at. It's not to say this this is a deception. I'm not even saying that the Lord Duffus didn't wear his accessories and weaponry down the front. I'm only saying that portraying him in his day-to-day state of dress mightn't be the point of this portrait, and it's worth pausing before drawing any conclusions about "the way it was done".

Exactly. We can't know how he wore things at any other point in time in his life; all we know is how he wore things for the specific purpose of having that portrait painted.

Any guesses or assumptions we might make about how he wore things at other points in time have no legs to stand on.