Sabbath Eve and Family Devotions.

I bought this painting from Ebay, entitled 'Sabeth Eve'.
Reverse is written:
(Sabeth Eve) by John H Thompson of Bd
1873
 It has a magnificent, but damaged, frame. The painting has tar deposits and several tears.

A little search engine input - using the accepted spelling of sabbath - revealed Alexander Johnston (1815–1891) as the 'original' artist. The painting, at the Glasgow Museums, is called Family devotions.

Alexander Johnston's painting proved so popular, another version hangs in Leeds Museum and art gallery. 
This one is entitled Sabbath Eve. Spot the difference.
The hungry public bought engravings of the image(by P. Lightfoot) and exhibited at the Royal Academy 1851.

So we have a popular image and a good quality frame. My guess is a middle-class family wanted the painting and commissioned J H Thompson. 

And what of J H Thompson? He was a contemporary of Alexander Johnston and genre painter. John H Thompson 1808 - 1890.

Untitled, 1874.

The proposition.

  

N.B. Genre paintings are unfashionable - don't know why. The social history details they reveal are extraordinary. Completed painting.