'Home of Mary Jones, Llanfihangel-y-Pennant' by S. Maurice Jones, c. 1891 (watercolour)

Description

This watercolour painting of the birthplace of Mary (Mari) Jones, Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, Merionethshire, was painted by the artist S. Maurice Jones (1853-1932). Jones was primarily a landscape artist who painted a number of scenes of the north Wales countryside near his home in Caernarfon and in the Conwy valley. In 1891 he was commissioned by O. M. Edwards to contribute a series of paintings on the theme of Welsh houses for his new periodical 'Cymru'. The series of illustrated essays proved extremely popular and were later published in the book 'Cartrefi Cymry' (1896). This painting of the home of Mary Jones forms part of that series. Mary Jones (1784-1864) was the daughter of a weaver, who in 1800 at the age of 16 walked the twenty-five miles from her home to the town of Bala to buy a copy of the Welsh Bible from the Rev. Thomas Charles.