During his lifetime Paye was considered one of the most gifted painters in England but various personal misfortunes befell him and he died virtually penniless and in relative obscurity.

Like William Hogarth, Paye's favourite subject was the ordinary people of London, and in particular its street children, often depicted in a style reminiscent of Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

"In his easel pictures Paye's style was careful without being elaborate, and his chiaroscuro was at all times considered of the highest quality: in effect, as well as in character of execution, there was something of the Flemish, but nature in all was the criterion of his excellence."

His anger was compounded when Paye published a comic image of Wolcot himself, depicted as a bear standing in front of an easel and withdrew his patronage.

According to his obituary, his passion and talent remained undimmed and "the love of Art sustained him through all; neither privations nor disappointment could check the ardour of his enthusiasm, nor could sickness in its most appalling shape quench the powers of genius."

On several occasion during his lifetime Paye's paintings, which he often left unsigned, were attributed to other artists and sold as being by Diego Velázquez, Thomas Gainsborough, John Hoppner and Joseph Wright of Derby.

Paye's masterpiece "St. James' Day", exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1788, depicts a diverse crowd of Londoners at an oyster stand on a summer night.