The purpose of this piece is not certain, although it may have been a model for the silver gilt shield commissioned in 1814 for presentation to the 1st Duke of Wellington. The fact that it is painted the colour of bronze may suggest it was intended for use as a specimen piece, to illustrate the form the shield was to take. Alternatively it may be a cast of a model - perhaps the clay model - the design of which was subsequently changed: although the scenes depicted on this piece mirror the design of the finished shield, they seem to have been assembled in a different order.

The silver gilt shield was executed by the firm of silversmiths Green, Ward & Green, who appointed Stothard to produce the design, which was cast by Benjamin Smith; it is now displayed at Apsley House, the Wellington Museum. The scenes depicted reflect landmarks in Wellington's career.

Stothard was one of the most accomplished of his generation, a painter and illustrator as well as a designer, and a contemporary and friend of the sculptor John Flaxman. Stothard studied at the Royal Academy Schools in 1777, and began work as a book-illustrator in 1779. He exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1778 and 1834.