William B.Hough was predominantly a still life painter whose work was respected and exhibited amongst other places in the Royal Academy and the Art Gallery of Glasgow. Grapes and peach on a mossy bank was exhibited in the 1968 Royal Academy exhibition (no.752) and is representative of his exquisite depiction of fruit, flowers and foliage. His accurate eye for detail, and perfectly controlled use of paint is reminiscent of William Henry Hunt whose style he both admired and aspired to. Painted in rich water-colour studies such as Hough’s were greatly admired by the Victorians, particularly by Ruskin who commended the style as `defying all false teaching'. Hough treats his subject with an attitude of truth and respect similar to that of the old Dutch Masters, which places him as an important figure in the elevation of the Still-life genre in Britain.