Miniature Portrait of Sir John Macpherson as Governor General


      The miniature portrait of Sir John Macpherson shown above is painted on ivory and mounted in gold. It was presented to the Museum in 1954 by W. A. Robertson, Esq., C.M.G., and the Misses Robertson. The portrait is fully authenticated as it had been continuously in the possession of the Robertson family and their Macleod ancestors, one of whom was aunt to Sir John.

      Sir John is depicted as blue-eyed and fresh coloured, with a very open countenance and regular features. He is wearing a gay silk coat of bright pink and a white cravat, and gives the impression of a cheerful personality with a strong sense of humour, and one who did not let the cares of office weigh too heavily on his spirit. As can be seen, he is wearing his own hair, highly powdered in the fashion of the day, showing as white, but, from the sample plaited and enclosed under glass in the back of the miniature, its natural colour was fair to gold. As we shall see he must have been forty years old when it was painted.