Sir Philip Charles Durham as a Vice Admiral (about 1820)

The portrait of Sir Philip Charles Durham as a Vice Admiral from around 1820 records the Scottish naval officer who had distinguished himself at the battles of Cape St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen, and Trafalgar — one of the most decorated naval careers of the Napoleonic era. Durham had served under Jervis, Nelson, and other commanders in the defining naval engagements of the period, and by the time Raeburn painted him as a Vice Admiral he was among the most senior figures in the Royal Navy. Raeburn's portraits of naval and military officers, produced throughout his career, document the Scottish contribution to British military power during the wars against Revolutionary and Napoleonic France. His direct, confident technique — painting faces with firm, square-cut brushmarks without preliminary underdrawing — was particularly well suited to military subjects, capturing the commanding presence and physical assurance of professional soldiers and sailors with an immediacy that more polished techniques could not achieve. The portrait's high date of 1850 in the source data likely reflects a later attribution uncertainty; the work's style suggests Raeburn's mature period around 1815 to 1820, consistent with Durham's known biography.

The naval portrait renders the admiral’s uniform and decorations with attention to rank insignia. Raeburn captures the commanding presence of a senior naval officer with characteristic directness.