For the best part of 20 years, this mounted and framed photographic portrait of a distinguished elderly gent sat hidden in storage in a dark nook of the Carlton ground.

The subject, resplendent in suit and bow tie, and sporting a generous moustache, looks straight down the barrel of the lens. But who is he?

The answer to that question came recently when the portrait, measuring 77cms x 64cms in its frame and tipping the scales at around three kilograms, was dragged out of the dark as part of an ongoing cataloguing process of Carlton’s historic artefacts.

Credit for the unmasking goes to Carlton College of Sport student Dylan Myers, who in running his mobile phone over the portrait determined through a facial recognition app that the subject was none other than Sir Henry Jones, the Tasmanian-born jam manufacturer and founder of IXL.

With the subject’s identity solved, the question then begged. Why was Sir Henry’s portrait in Carlton’s keep?

The most plausible theory is that the original image, thought to have been taken not long before 64 year-old Sir Henry’s death in 1926, may have hung in an IXL corporate box by way of a sponsorship arrangement at the Carlton ground after Elders, the company then led by the incumbent Carlton President John Elliott. Under Elliott’s managing directorship, Elder Smith Goldsbrough Mort & Co merged with Henry Jones IXL to form Elders IXL in 1974.

As Sir Henry had no known personal connection with Carlton, the Club thought it appropriate to offer the portrait for future display in Hobart’s IXL Building (formerly the historic jam factory on Hunter Street). The 1830s sandstone building has since been redeveloped by the Federal Group into a premier waterfront complex incorporating The Henry Jones Art Hotel.

The hotel’s Master Storyteller Aaron Cuneo said that the portrait would definitely find an appropriate space, and he promptly arranged for the item to be ferried across Bass Strait.

A few days later, Cuneo forward an image standing proudly by the portrait, with the accompanying message: “Henry is home”.

“Thankyou so much for contacting us about the portrait. Its connection not only to The Henry Jones Art Hotel but also John Elliott and Elders IXL is amazing,” Cuneo said.

“He is currently hanging in the foyer and will have a new home soon right near what was his office. We have a display of artefacts relating to H. Jones & Co. IXL Jams.”

The Jones portrait is a one-off item released by the Carlton Archive, which welcomes the donation of any items of significance in the Club’s history.