Lot Essay
George Jones is best-known for his large-scale battle scene paintings. Having fought in the Peninsula War, he combined his two passions for art and the army to paint accurate and atmospheric scenes of the war, and his Battle of Waterloo (Royal Military Hospital, Chelsea) shared the 1820 British Institution prize for a painting to celebrate the allied victory. He later turned to recording important public events, and several of the present group are studies for The Passing of the Great Emancipation Act (Yale Center for British Art). Also a talented portraitist, examples of his work are in the Tate and the National Portrait Gallery.