John Jones was first in business as a tailor and army clothier in London 1825, then opened a branch in Dublin in 1840. He often visited Ireland, and also travelled to Europe and particularly France. In 1850 he retired but retained an interest in his firm, living quietly at 95 Piccadilly, London from 1865 to his death in January 1882. After the 4th Marquess of Hertford and his son Sir Richard Wallace, Jones was the principal collector in Britain of French eighteenth-century fine and decorative art. He bequeathed an important collection of French eighteenth-century furniture and porcelain to the Victoria & Albert Museum, and British watercolours and oil paintings that mainly reflected his interest in France but also included NWP174A Style of Wilson, Landscape with River and Ruins.
