Pair of Victorian Upholstered Armchairs

Pair of late 19th Century Victorian antique mahogany framed armchairs upholstered in deep blue velvet with buttoned arms on turned front legs and sabre rear having Pot Castors - J.Jones, Derby Pair of Jones, John; Jones, John & Sons Derby, Derbyshire; cabinet makers and upholsterers (fl.c.1860-c.1950) John Jones set up as a furniture maker in Sadler Gate, Derby in the 1860s and in 1871 moved to 14 Market Street, where he was listed in The Furniture Gazette Directory (1876). In 1884 he bought the business and timber stock of Messrs. Saunders & Company and retained Saunders’ staff [The Furniture Gazette, 14 June 1884]. Jones was listed as cabinet makers in The Furniture Gazette: Classified List of The Furniture, Upholstery & Allied Trades (1886) at 14 Market Street and 59 Abbey Street, Derby. In 1891 he advertised the firm's steam powered manufactory at Abbey Street, Derby [Derby Illustrated, 1891] and by 1898 they had moved to a bigger site on City Road. At a later date the firm became known as John Jones & Sons. Retail shops were retained at various Derby locations until the business closed about 1950. Jones supplied much of the furniture for the Midland Railway offices in Derby; mahogany balloon-back chairs sold from the former offices in 1985 bore an ivorine plaque inscribed ‘Jones, 14 Market Place, Derby’ and similar chairs have also been found in Midland Railway stations. Several pubs in Derby were reputedly furnished by the firm and The Furniture Gazette, 30 August 1879, recorded that Jones supplied the furniture for the Chairman’s room, the New Library, Derby.