Highland drovers with cattle

Although the present grand watercolour undoubtedly represents highland figures, stylistically it seems to date from circa 1850, before Cox visited Scotland in the summer of 1855, when he travelled to Edinburgh to sit for his portrait to Sir John Watson Gordon (Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery). The watercolour may have been a special commission, as the details of the Scottish drovers, highland ponies and highland cattle are painstakingly depicted.