James was the son of the deposed Roman Catholic monarch James II of England and claimant to the English and Scottish thrones. He made several attempts to gain the crown. When the Protestant ruler William of Orange, Stadtholder of Holland, deposed James II in 1688, Prince James was taken to France, where his father set up a court in exile. Upon the death of James II in 1701, the French King Louis XIV proclaimed James King of England. In 1708 James, called the Pretender, set out in French ships to invade Scotland, but he was driven away by the British before he could land. In 1714 he refused to accept suggestions that he renounce Roman Catholicism and become an Anglican in order to be designated Queen Anne's heir to the throne of England. John Erskine, 6th Earl of Mar, raised a Jacobite (from the Latin 'Jacobus', meaning James) rebellion in Scotland in 1715. James landed in Aberdeen but within a few months the uprising had collapsed and he returned to France. He passed the remainder of his life in or near Rome. In 1719, James married Maria Clementina Sobieska, a granddaughter of John Sobieski III of Poland. They had two sons, Charles Edward, called the Young Pretender, and Henry, later Cardinal York.

This miniature is probably a copy of one of the many portraits of Prince James painted by the Italian artist Antonio David (1698-1750) in Paris from 1717 onwards. Its size and discolouration make it difficult to assess. David was the official painter of the exiled Jacobite court for nearly 20 years and copies of his portraits were circulated throughout Europe.

Set in a diamond surround and rococo frame, engraved at the back: JAMES III / Chevalier de ST George / 1688-1765.