Bronze Age Gold from Wales

The artist signed the back of the canvas 'Fellowes Pinx' 1751. Although the sitter is not identified, the similarity of this portrait to that of William Vaughan suggests that she is his wife Catherine Nanney (1692-1768). The daughter and heir of Hugh Nanney, MP for Meirioneth, she was the last member of an old family which claimed descent from the thirteenth-century prince Ynyr Hen. Her marriage in 1732 was the last of a series between the Nanneys and Vaughans, the two most influential families in Meirioneth. This work hung formerly at Nannau, near Dolgellau.