June 1 1864

John Watson Gordon (1788 to 1 June 1864) was in the 19th century a leading Scottish painter. His portraits are still impressive, and his specialty was portraits of literary and other intelligentsia figures. In 1826 he co-founded the Scottish Royal Academy. In the words of his biography at the main Walter Scott website

In 1850 Watson Gordon succeeded Sir William Allan as President of the Royal Scottish Academy. Shortly afterwards he was knighted and appointed Royal Limner (i.e. court painter) for Scotland....Watson Gordon died suddenly in Edinburgh on 1 June 1864.... In his memory his brother and sister endowed the Watson-Gordon Professorship of Fine Art at Edinburgh University in 1879, the first chair in art history in Britain.

Watson Gordon was distantly related to one of the 19th century's most famous Scottish personages-- Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). He painted three portraits of Scott during Scott's lifetime. Sometime in the 1840s or 50's Watson Gordon did a fourth study of Sir Walter Scott. Here it an engraving of that painting----

It is titled: Sir Walter Scott in his Study at Castle Street . We can glean something about the painter in his portrayal of the novelist above. Here is what the website we already referenced says about this painting

This posthumous portrait ... depicts, somewhat fancifully, Scott's study at 39 North Castle Street, Edinburgh, where he lived between 1801 and 1826 .... Scott is shown reading a large book at his writing desk. On an adjoining table to the right sits Scott's cat Hinse of Hinsefeldt. A dog, probably Camp, lies on the floor in the foreground. Light is provided by a window to the left. On the wall behind Scott hangs a map with a suit of armour standing to its left. To the right, above the chimney-piece, hangs a portrait of Scott's mother, also by Watson Gordon. In reality, Scott's study was lined with bookshelves and dominated by a portrait of John Graham of Claverhouse, portrayed by Scott in Old Mortality. The painting is now held by the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. It was engraved once, in 1871, by Robert Charles Bell. ... [This painting was used as a frontispiece] to: Portrait of Sir Walter Scott: And Five Engravings in Illustration of 'The Pirate' ...

I am not sure anyone else has noted this: what is a cat doing in the painting. Yes, Watson Gordon was an intimate of the Scott household, yes he knew all the pets. We can trust that Hinse is faithfully portrayed. But Scott had been dead some years, and though Scott was famous as a cat lover, what gust of fancy, what blast of inspiration pushed Gordon to again paint Walter Scott and include this particular domestic detail. Many portraits of Scott include his dogs. This is the only one I believe, which includes one of Scott's cats.  My humble thesis is that Gordon Watson was himself, very fond of cats, and maybe even recollected in fondness this particular one. And my only bit of proof really is this portrait of the portraitist--- what a gentle face, what sweet eyes. Well see for yourself, this portrait of John Watson Gordon.