18th Century Pet Squirrels

Last updated: April 17, 2025

While pet squirrels appear in European art (and descriptions) from the 13th-16th centuries, most of the depictions in the 18th century are Americans with grey squirrels. Note that the squirrels are often depicted with fine collars and chains, which also appear in some of the 16th and 17th century depictions. Henry Pelham, Frances Deering Wentworth, and Deborah Hall have flying squirrels.

Benjamin Franklin wrote an epitaph for a pet squirrel in 1772:

• Benjamin Grymes and Ludwell Grymes by Charles Bridges, c. 1735-1744
• The Family of Eldred Lancelot Lee by Joseph Highmore, 1736
• Rebecca Orne by Joseph Badger, 1757
• Portrait of two children, 1760
• Olive Craster by Sir Nathaniel Dance-Holland, 1762
• James Beekman Jr. by John Durand, 1767
• Henry Pelham (A boy with a flying squirrel) by John Singleton Copley, 1765
• Mrs. Theodore Atkinson Jr. (Frances Deering Wentworth) by John Singleton Copley, 1765
• John Bee Holmes by John Singleton Copley, 1766
• Lord Carteret’s daughter by John Smart, 1766
• Deborah Hall by William Williams, 1766
• Portrait of a girl with a squirrel by Cosmo Alexander, 1770
• Daniel Crommelin Verplanck by John Singleton Copley, 1771
• The Wiley Family by William Williams, 1771
• Portrait of a boy with a pet squirrel by Joseph Highmore
• Mrs. Congreve with her children by Philip Reinagle, 1782
• Miss Denison of Stonington, Connecticut (possibly Matilda Denison), c. 1790
• Mrs. Gershom Burr by Ralph Earl, 1798
• Portrait of two children by Henri-Pierre Danloux, c. 1800
• Portrait of a young girl with her pet squirrel