 McLean was one of 3,360 exhibitors at the Intercolonial Exhibition of Australasia held in Melbourne in 1866-67, where he received a medal 'for excellent workmanship'.Described by a probable descendant, 'D.McL', as the work of a 'major part of half a lifetime', the sideboard was rebuilt and enlarged to include a new arched back inlaid with over 1,000 pieces of mahogany, cedar, blackwood and satinwood in time for the 42nd International Exhibition, held in London in 1873.