Stepney portrait bought for display at Llanelly House

Carmarthenshire Heritage Regeneration Trust has received a grant of £81,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund HLF to acquire a portrait of Sir John Stepney 8th Baronet (1741-1811) by Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Thought to have been painted by the renowned portrait artist, Sir Joshua Reynolds around 1760, the painting is to be hung in the Great Hall ready for the opening of Llanelly House, next year.
The piece is recorded in the portrait inventory of Lady Margaret Cowell-Stepney, at the Dell in Llanelli around 1900. The portrait was originally housed at Badminton, home of Sir John’s close friend and early patron the Duke of Beaufort. It is thought that the Cowell-Stepney’s acquired the portrait sometime later.
The portrait was sold by Mark Murray Threipland in 1992 – and was then catalogued as ‘circle of Reynolds’ - from its then home at Fingask Castle and has since remained in private hands.
The portrait has since been attributed to Reynolds and considered to be an important addition to the Reynolds oeuvre and our knowledge of Welsh portraiture of the period.
As well as being on display for visitors to the House the portrait’s acquisition will also play a key role in developing the next phase of the Trust’s successful Big Picture Project.
In the past the Big Picture Project has worked with children who receive learning support at schools, developing their understanding and experience of the landscape by using photography to record their experiences and create an exhibition within their local community.
‘The Big Picture; Llanelly House’ will invite children from local schools who receive learning support, and vulnerable adults, to learn about portraiture and use a variety of media to create their own portraits – including paints, photography, clay and silhouette.
The work will go on display at the House. It is hoped that the experience will help them learn more about heritage, understand more about themselves, building their confidence and self esteem.
The project will run for three years following the opening of the House and aims to work with over 90 children and 30 adults.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former Gower MP Gareth Wardell the guest speaker at Llanelli Rotary Club

Image
Former Gower MP Gareth Wardell was the guest speaker at the weekly meeting of Llanelli Rotary Club held at the Stradey Park Hotel. Mr Wardell gave an illuminating address, weaving comparisons between his job as a politician and his late father's job as a Tumble barber. It was an amusing, highly-entertaining and thought-provoking address. Mr Wardell, now 69, won the Gower constituency seat in a Parliamentary by-election in 1982. The Labour MP held the seat until his retirement in 1997. He now works as a public affairs consultant in Wales. Mr Wardell's Parliamentary term was largely in opposition to Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Government. But his did make a significant contribution by being the youngest MP to chair the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. Mr Wardell recognised that in the 'fame stakes' he may have played second fiddle to his father, Jack, who was one of the UK's oldest barbers and who cut and styled hair for almost 80 years. Jac
Read more

'Class of 1980' from Burry Port enjoy reunion

Image
There was a big class reunion held in Burry Port at the weekend. Members of the Class of 1980 from Porth Tywyn (Burry Port junior) School got together at The Coasting Pilot pub. The reunion was organised by Christine Rees and same 22 members of the original class of 28 turn up to discuss their old schooldays. One ‘Class of 1980’ member was Burry Port businessman Owain Davies. He said: “We all have very happy memories of our time in school. We had a fantastic teacher in Mr Heddwyn Jones, who now lives in Four Roads. “We were very fortunate to have the same teacher for three years and we were a very happy class. Mr Jones was an inspiring teacher and we all got on every well and we are all still good friends. “Heather Thomas (now Heather Osmond) made it from Surrey, but she was trumped by Gail Morris, who flew in from Ohio in the United States for the reunion. “It was a fantastic evening at the Coasting Pilot with good food, good wine and good company. We even recreated the class
Read more

Lauryn Davey is making her mark in athletics - but needs sponsors

Image
Ammanford-based Lauryn Davey is making a major mark in the world of Welsh athletics. At just 16, she is the best all-round athlete of her age in Wales. She's chalking up Welsh championship victories and has been honoured by her club, the Carmarthen Harriers. Lauryn's been earmarked as a future international star, but knows the road to the big championships is difficult, demanding and expensive. Ammanford businessman and well-known comic entertainer Phil Evans has launched a campaign to get cash backers for Lauryn's athletics career. "Everyone in the area is hugely proud of her achievements in athletics to date," said Phil. "But we also want to see her go on and do bigger and better things. "Together with some friends, I am helping find ways of generating much-needed sponsorship cash for Lauryn. "She has massive potential to succeed on the international stage and I am sure a little bit of financial help will help to smooth her
Read more