John Thomas Peele (1822-1897) was a British painter specializing in portraits, landscapes, and genre scenes. Born in Peterborough, Northamptonshire, Peele immigrated to America with his parents in about 1834. The family settled in Buffalo, New York, where Peele began painting. In 1840, he traveled to New York City to continue his artistic training and enrolled in the National Academy of Design's antique class. Peele remained in New York City for approximately eighteenth months and then settled in Albany, where he worked as a portrait painter for two years. From 1841 to 1844, Peele was in London attempting to launch a career as a society portraitist, but he failed to win substantial patronage. He returned to New York by 1845 and switched his focus to ideal genre subjects featuring children.