David Bates was born in Cambridgeshire but spent most of his early life in Worcestershire where he was apprenticed at the Royal Worcester Porcelain Works from c.1855. His painting on porcelain can be seen at the Worcester Porcelain Museum, and in particular a pair of gilded jardinières highly decorated with delicate and colourful flowers and foliage. He left the factory in 1880 to concentrate on landscape painting in oils and watercoloursBates depicted a variety of locations, including his native Worcester, the Midlands, Scotland, Wales Switzerland and Egypt. His paintings show the influence of the celebrated Victorian landscape artist Benjamin Williams Leader (1831-1923). Bates exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1863 and 1893 and Lord Leighton, President of the RA from 1878 to 1896, purchased a snow scene by Bates of Hollymount Woods. Bates also exhibited his work at the Royal Society of British Artists, the Grafton Gallery and the New Watercolour Society
David Bates’ son David Noel Bates (Fl. 1893-1909) also became a notable landscape artist. He ultimately changed his name to David Bates Noel to avoid confusion with his father’s work