Vase of Peonies and Assorted Flowers on a Marble Ledge (1880), watercolour on paper, 44 x 30 cm., gift of the Estate of Margaret Griffiths, Ottawa, 1993 Still Life (n.d.), oil on canvas, 46 x 61.2 cm., gift of Mrs. R. W. Pike, Ottawa, 1976 John Howard Griffiths (1826-1898) was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England and died in London, Ontario. He attended art classes taught by John Sherwin at the Potteries Mechanics' Institute at Shelton and possibly attended similar classes at nearby Hamely and Worcester led by Edward Villers Rippingille. Griffiths worked for the Minton's pottery firm where he would have come into contact with the famous floral painters Thomas Steel and Joseph Bancroft. His family emigrated to London in 1855 and he began to paint japanned wares for McClary's factory. Later, he established his own photographic firm. He was a founder of the Western School of Art and Design in 1871 where he trained others to paint not only on the usual supports but on china and porcelain blanks. Griffiths painted principally floral subjects executed in the traditional 17th century Dutch manner but also worked in the academic portrait miniatures style in oil and watercolour.