The Militaria Specialist, Philip Haythornthwaite, suggests that pale grey shakos such as the one in this portrait were rarely depicted, as they were worn by regiments serving in tropical climates. This silhouette is historically interesting because Edward Portman sat for his portrait on the Isle of Wight while waiting for his ship to take him to the East in about 1812; the 1st Battalion of the 56th was in India 1805-15 and in Mauritius 1815-25, the 2nd was in India 1807-17.