Twit and Howlet and the Balloon

BARBARA JONES (1912-1978) was born in Croydon, Surrey,where her family ran a high street saddlery. She studied at the Croydon School of Art and the Royal College of Art, in the footsteps of Edward Bawden, John Piper and Eric Ravilious. Like them, she was interested in the architecture, landscape and the folk and decorative arts of Britain. During the Second World War she was commissioned by The Pilgrim Trust to document historic buildings at risk from war damage. The paintings she produced were included in the landmark publication Recording Britain (1946-1949) and are now held at the Victoria& Albert Museum. She was a prolific illustrator of books, and wrote and illustrated several of her own, including Twit and Howlett, Follies and Grottoes and The Unsophisticated Arts.