John Griffiths was born in 1837. He studied at the Royal College of Art and then worked under Godfrey Sykes on the decorative work for the South Kensington Museum. One of his fellow assistants was John Lockwood Kipling, who became a life-long friend, and he was godfather to Kipling's son, Rudyard. The two of them were persuaded to go out to India on a three-year assignment, and in 1865 they sailed for Bombay, where they worked together for ten years at the Bombay School of Art. Griffiths undertook many commissions, including work on the Victoria Terminus and the High Court. His most important project in India was a government commission to record the paintings within the caves of Ajanta, an undertaking for which he employed a team of his most talented students. In 1879 Griffiths was appointed as Superintendent of the school returning to England in 1895. He died in 1918. This figure study shows his skill in observing and depicting local people.