Robert Ball Hughes (British-American, 1804-1868): Sir John Falstaff Examining the Recruits Provided for Him by Justice Shallow, 1866. Pyrography on wood panel, after the painting by Sir John Gilbert (English, 1817-1897). Detailed description and dedication written in the back of the panel using the same technique. Framed.

Known as Ball Hughes and also using that as a signature, this man was a sculptor and wax-portrait artist. He was born in London, England, and died in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He studied and exhibited at the Royal Academy in London as well as at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the National Academy of Design in New York City. He emigrated to New York in 1829, having earned much prestige in England. In New York, he received many commissions for portrait busts in bronze and wax. Among his subjects were John Trumbull, Alexander Hamilton, and Washington Irving. From 1838 to 1840, he worked in Philadelphia and from 1840, worked in Boston. In his final years, he began to produce burnt wood pictures (pyro engravings or "poker pictures"), including The Witches of MacBeth (c. 1840), Babylonian Lions (1856), Don Quixote in His Study (1863), The Trumpeter (1864), General Grant Proclaiming the Surrender of Richmond (1865), The Last Lucifer Match (1865), and The Monk (1866). He also lectured on art. Hughes is buried in the Cedar Grove Cemetery, Dorchester, Massachusetts. The National Portrait Gallery contains Ball Hughes' busts of Nathaniel Bowditch, Washington Irving, James Kent, John Marshall, and his medallion of John Trumbull.

20 x 28.5 inches framed; 13.25 x 22 inches board.

The Estate of Smoki Bacon, Boston, Massachusetts; 2021, Private collection, Boston, Massachusetts.

Very good condition, considering age. Minor scuffs on surface of the board and the frame.