[Joe 6-pack]

"I have seen many portraits with people holding Ferrets and even Minks. Usually, the human in the portrait appears to be wealthy. I haven’t seen paintings with Squirrels as pets, but then I wasn’t going around in search of such portrayals."

John Singleton Copley who portrayed a number of our founders and probably most famous for his portrait of Paul Revere, painted a portrait of a young Henry Pelham with a pet squirrel...

[lee martell]

That’s cute. Squirrels are fun, as long as they don’t get too nervous or over excited. Hence the term ‘Squirrely’.
The animal was probably added to the composition later by the painter. I can’t see a squirrel sitting in place for hours like the boy probably did to produce stetches.