William Jones of Bath

This signed and dated work was produced by the enigmatic British still life painter William Jones of Bath, whose paintings consist mainly of fruit and floral still lifes and landscapes featuring outdoor sports. This particular composition appears to have been Jones' most popular, as it is known in at least four versions, the most significant of which was recorded in the Duke of Ancaster's collection at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire.¹

¹ Oil on canvas, 45 x 37 cm.; https://photoarchive.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/objects/443838/fruit-on-a-pewter-dish?ctx=f4c6e3ed23592336224ea27eafb189ce647ea3ce&idx=32; Oil on canvas, 45 x 38 cm.; Anonymous sale, London, Christie's 20 November 1981, lot 72; https://photoarchive.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/objects/453123/peaches-on-a-pewter-plate-on-a-table?ctx=f4c6e3ed23592336224ea27eafb189ce647ea3ce&idx=42; Oil on canvas, 30 x 37 cm.; Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 22 July 1981, lot 102; https://photoarchive.paul-mellon-centre.ac.uk/objects/453124/still-life-of-peaches-and-an-apple?ctx=f4c6e3ed23592336224ea27eafb189ce647ea3ce&idx=43; Oil on canvas, 43 x 37 cm.; Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 12 March 1980, lot 61.