William Henry Knight

He was to become a solicitor, but gave up his law studies after two of his paintings were accepted by the annual exhibition of the Society of British Artists.

He moved to London in 1855, taking lodgings in Kennington Road, Lambeth, and supporting himself by drawing crayon portraits while studying in the British Museum and in the schools of the Royal Academy.

His first contribution to the Royal Academy exhibition was Boys playing draughts in 1846; from that year until 1862 he was a constant exhibitor there.

Among his best works were: "A Christmas party preparing for blind man's buff" (1850); "Time for play",[3] "Boys snowballing" (1853); "The broken window" (1855 – engraved for the August 1865 edition of The Art Journal); "The village school" (1857); "Knuckle down" (1858); "The lost change" (1859);[4] Hide and seek (1860);[5] The game of marbles, "An unexpected trump" (1861); "Rivals to Blondin"[6] and "The counterfeit coin" (1862).

[1] In his 1855 Academy notes, John Ruskin wrote about The broken window: "This picture does not catch the eye at a distance, but, on looking close, there will be found exquisite and careful painting in it.".