Dolly Pentreath (1685- 1777), 'the last speaker of Cornish'
Richard Thomas Pentreath (1806 - 1869)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1800 - 1869
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
279 x 229 mm (11 x 9 in)
Order this imageCollection
Lanhydrock, Cornwall
NT 880806
Summary
Oil painting on canvas, Dolly Pentreath (1685 -1777), 'the last speaker of Cornish' by Richard Thomas Pentreath (1806 - 1869). A fisherwoman is seen standing on a cliff path with Mount's Bay and St. Michael's Mount in the background. She carries a stick in her left hand and a basket on her back with a strap over her hat. She wears a russet coloured skirt with paler blouse and a white apron. The figure depicted here is a 19th-century imaginary version, in the manner of Nicholas Condy, of what Dolly might have looked like. Dolly Pentreath was reputedly the last native speaker of the Cornish language.
Provenance
Originally on loan to the National Trust by the Trustees of the Enys Estate, Cornwall, 1972-2009, then purchased by the National Trust in March 2009
Makers and roles
Richard Thomas Pentreath (1806 - 1869), artist R. J. Pentreath, artist previously catalogued as attributed to Nicholas Matthew Condy (Plymouth 1816/18 - Plymouth 1851) , artist previously catalogued as attributed to British (English) School, artist