A red aviary rises to a backdrop of white clouds and a blue sky, containing a number of birds sitting still or in flight. Barbara Jones’ lithograph depicts the aviary that extends from the Gardener’s House on the grounds of Dropmore House, close to Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. Lord Grenville, Prime Minister to George III, bought the land in 1792. Listed Grade I, the Aviary is a cast-iron cage, with ceramic tiles imported from China around the base, these also forming the uprights and frieze. It has three projections with cupolas, the central of which is higher than the other two. The Aviary’s architect and date of construction are unrecorded, but it features in a sketch by John Buckler dated 1830.
This lithograph was produced as an edition of Jones’ illustration for her book
Follies and Grottoes (Constable and Co, 1953). The author of numerous illustrated books, Jones is particularly known for
The Unsophisticated Arts (1951). This was the outcome of a decade spent documenting everyday art throughout Britain, visiting fairgrounds, tattoo parlours, taxidermists, high street shops, seaside piers and amusement arcades. Her ground-breaking achievement coalesced in the exhibition
Black Eyes and Lemonade held at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1951. Trained as a mural painter, a number of Jones’ large-scale works were commissions, notably, for the
Britain Can Make It exhibition at the V&A (1947); for the interior of ocean liners like the S.S. Orsova (1953); the International Labour Office exhibition in Turin (1961); and the Philips Research Laboratory in Eindhoven (1966).
