John Forbes Watson (b.1827; d.1892) was a physician and writer. Watson served as the Reporter for the Products of India at the India Office, London, from 1858 to 1879. He is best known for introducing the idea of a “portable museum,” which led to the publication of the Collections of the Textile Manufacturers of India (1866; 1873–77), which featured samples from different textiles exhibited at the Paris International Exhibition of 1855 as well as the India Museum’s collection.