Lot 118: Jones (Barbara, 1912-1978). Two original

Jones (Barbara, 1912-1978). Two original dustjacket designs, one for The Half-Crown House by Helen Ashton, 1956, the other for Sound of the Sea by Leo Walmsley, 1959, together two watercolour designs on card, the first depicting a Palladian mansion set in a landscaped park, with a statue in the foreground, 307 x 248 mm (12 x 9.75 ins), the second showing a young boy on a beach with his dog, within a border of seaweed and sea creatures, 342 x 265 mm (13.5 x 10.5 ins) After studying at Croydon Art School, Barbara Jones eventually came to study Mural Decoration at the Royal College of Art, and thus came to belong to that distinctive group of artists and illustrators of whom John Piper, Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious and Edward Ardizzone are perhaps the best known. Her striking murals for the Britain Can Make It exhibition (1947), for the Festival of Britain (1951), for P&O (S.S.Orcades, S.S.Oronsay, S.S.Orsova, S.S.Oriana 1948-1960), and for hotels, restaurants, exhibitions and schools, have all, bar a couple of isolated examples, long since disappeared. Equally as ephemeral were her radio broadcasts although some may still remember her designs for the Woodentops on childrens television. What remains of her work can now only readily be seen (on a much smaller scale than the murals) in her books (she wrote three), in her illustrations for books, in her dustjacket designs, and in other even more fragile and chance survivals. (2)