Study for the portrait of Melvill Jones
Date
1962
Sitter
Bennett Melvill Jones (1887 - 1975, British) , Aeronautical engineer
Creator
Allan Gwynne-Jones (1892 - 1982, British) , Painter
Object type
Archive reference number
Material
Dimensions
height (drawing): 385mm
width (drawing): 265mm
width (drawing): 265mm
Subject
Content object
Description
Half-length, half-face face portrait with the sitter facing the viewer’s left. Melvill Jones is shown in a modern business suit with books in both foreground and background. The sketch is annotated by the artist as a working drawing with various notes including on costume ‘tie khaki blue spect white cotton flannel shirt…’ and location ‘picture (at lab)’.
Sir Bennett Melvill Jones was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1939.
Sir Bennett Melvill Jones was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1939.
Transcription
Study for the portrait of Sir Melvill Jones by Allan Gwynne-Jones. Bought from the artist, 9 January 1971.
Not in catalogue.
Not in catalogue.
Object history
Presented by Marianne Ford, in memory of Sir Brinsley Ford (1908-1999).
Purchased from the artist by Sir (Richard) Brinsley Ford, 9 January 1971. Brinsley Ford’s personal account reads: “Three of these studies are done on the backs of large brown envelopes, those of Lord Florey and Sir Harry Ricardo on the backs of enveloped addressed to A.G-J. when he was on the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board. But he told me that even if the postage marks were legible, they would be no guide to the dates when the portraits were painted as he was in the habit of accumulating these envelopes for future use! I asked him to date these portraits but he could not do so accurately. However it would be possible by consulting either the owners or the R.A. catalogues to find out when they were painted. I have only recorded the dates he suggested."
One of four drawings for portraits by Gwynne-Jones collected by Brinsley Ford.
Purchased from the artist by Sir (Richard) Brinsley Ford, 9 January 1971. Brinsley Ford’s personal account reads: “Three of these studies are done on the backs of large brown envelopes, those of Lord Florey and Sir Harry Ricardo on the backs of enveloped addressed to A.G-J. when he was on the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board. But he told me that even if the postage marks were legible, they would be no guide to the dates when the portraits were painted as he was in the habit of accumulating these envelopes for future use! I asked him to date these portraits but he could not do so accurately. However it would be possible by consulting either the owners or the R.A. catalogues to find out when they were painted. I have only recorded the dates he suggested."
One of four drawings for portraits by Gwynne-Jones collected by Brinsley Ford.
Associated place
