Bellringer of Caernarfon in costume of trade

Here we have the artisan painter John Cambrian Rowland depicting the bell ringer of Caernarfon in a traditional Welsh costume. This work is interesting from a nationalistic perspective as well as from an art-historical perspective.

His inspiration came from Augusta Hall (Lady Llanover) the Welsh heiress and patron of the Welsh Arts. In 1834 she wrote a prize-winning essay submitted to the Cardiff Royal Eisteddfod which emphasised the importance of the Welsh Language and the National costumes of Wales. In actual fact the traditional dress of Wales with its heavy wool was a costume worn by the working classes across Europe from the medieval times but Lady Llanover turned it into a Welsh national costume. In 1848-1850 Rowland inspired by this new fashion created a number of costume prints which were later turned into engravings and were published by Edward Parry of Chester. They proved to be extremely popular and sold well. The images were also at times placed on kitsch ornaments and sold as far as Scotland.