The arms are those of Alexander, 10th Duke of Hamilton, born in 1767, the premier peer in the Peerage of Scotland and Hereditary Keeper of Holyrood House. His early travels in Italy instilled in him a great love of art and he became a prodigious collector. He entered politics in 1802, as a Whig, but as it was remarked in an obituary notice "timidity and variableness of temperament prevented his rendering much service to, or being much relied on by, his Party... with a great predispostion to over estimate the importance of ancient birth... he well deserved to be considered the proudest man in England: [Complete Peerage]. On accession of the Whigs to power in 1806 on May 28 he was sent as ambassador to the Court of St. Petersburg. These entree dishes form a part of the ambassadorial plate commissioned for this embassy. The service, when dispersed by Christie's in 1919, comprised some 278 pieces and weighed a total of 9513 oz.

The Duke of Hamilton was appointed a Knight of the Garter in 1836 and was Lord High Steward at the coronations of William IV and Queen Victoria. He married in 1810 Susan Euphemia, daughter and heir of William Beckford, described as "one of the handsomest women of her time" [Lord Malmesbury, Memoirs of an ex-Minister, 1855, p. 487].

Lord Lamington in The Days of the Dandies wrote of the Duke thus: "Never was such a magnifico as the 10th Duke, the Ambassador to the Empress Catherine; when I knew him he was very old but held himself straight as any Grenadier. He was always dressed in a military laced undress coat, tights and Hessian boots &c." Lady Stafford mentions "his great coat, long Queue and Fingers cover'd with gold Rings."