Susanna Kennedy (1689–1780), Countess of Eglinton (copy after William Aikman)

This work — identified as a copy after William Aikman — reveals an important aspect of Hamilton's early career practice: copying established portraits for clients who wished to own likenesses of notable subjects. Susanna Kennedy (1689–1780), Countess of Eglinton, was a celebrated Scottish beauty and social figure whose wit and vitality made her a subject of literary praise by contemporaries. William Aikman (1682–1731) was the leading Scottish portraitist of the early eighteenth century, trained under Sir Godfrey Kneller, and his portrait of the young Countess was considered authoritative. Hamilton's copy, now at Culzean Castle, demonstrates the Scottish aristocratic custom of commissioning portrait copies for family seats — the original remaining in one location while copies circulated to affiliated houses. The work dates Hamilton's copyist practice to his early career, before his Roman transformation.

A copy after Aikman requires Hamilton to translate the earlier painter's technique and conventions into his own hand. The Kneller-derived smoothness of Aikman's style is compatible with Hamilton's pre-Roman manner, making the copy stylistically coherent. Hamilton's task is to preserve the informational content of the original while demonstrating sufficient technical control.