Raymond Ray-Jones (1886-1942) was born in Ashton-under-Lyme, Lancashire. He studied at the Hegginbottom School of Art and later at the Royal College of Art, London, under Sir Frank Short from whom he learned all the skills of etching. Until 1913 he exhibited as Raymond Jones, later adding Ray for commercial reasons. He was created a fellow of the Royal Society of Painters- Etchers and Engravers. Ray-Jones was a meticulous draughtsman and craftsman as shown in his self portrait of 1910 (see RCAL.367-1916). The print had been part of his submission for an etching scholarship awarded by the British Institute which enabled Ray-Jones to travel and study in Paris, where he made a number of etchings of street scenes and city-scapes.