A hand-colored sixth-plate daguerreotype portrait of an unidentified British Army officer, produced by William Edward Kilburn at his celebrated Regent Street studio in London, almost certainly dating from the late 1840s to early 1850s. Kilburn held the appointment of "Photographist to Her Majesty and His Royal Highness Prince Albert," and aristocrats and members of high society admired and purchased his work, which was often finely hand-colored, precisely as seen here, with applied pigment animating the scarlet tunic and gold appointments.

The officer is seated in a carved upholstered armchair, turned slightly to his left in a relaxed three-quarter pose. He wears a scarlet full-dress tunic with a braided standing collar, a double row of gilt buttons down the front, heavy gold bullion epaulettes at both shoulders, a gold-laced waist belt, and a crimson officer's sash draped diagonally across the chest. His tartan trews, consistent with a Scottish or Highland-affiliated regiment, are clearly visible below the waist, and a gilt cuff ornament with what appears to be a star badge is worn on the right wrist.

Highland regiments wore tartan kilts, while Lowland regiments, the Highland Light Infantry, and all mounted officers wore tartan trews, the combination of scarlet tunic with gold epaulettes and tartan trews here points to a senior officer of a Scottish Line regiment in full dress, a portrait type of considerable historical interest. Until 1855 most officers wore epaulettes of this bullion-fringed kind, placing the sitting firmly in the early 1850s.

The daguerreotype is housed in its original burgundy leather case, the exterior bearing a gilt-embossed royal warrant cartouche stamped "Mr. Kilburn" with the address on Regent Street. The velvet-lined interior retains a gold-ruled oval mat framing the plate under its original cover glass.