Welsh Costume: Newman's (large) set
During the 1850s ‘60s and ‘70s Newman and Co. produced two series of numbered prints, large and small, of Welsh costumes, similar to those of Rock and Co. These were often sold as a set in special but cheap bindings, or sold with a set of views of a particular location. Some of these were used on china too.
John Newman and Co, engravers and print publishers, were based at 48 Watling Street, London. No date is given on most of their prints, but the appearance of some in a dated tourist’s journal of 1853 and pencil copies of two in an album dated 1854 suggest that some of them (possibly small series nos. 1-12) were published by the early 1850s.
They all show groups of women, mostly in Welsh hats, at market or church.
This set of six prints were printed on thin card 21.7 x 30 with images 15 x 23 cms.
Four of these are larger versions of the small set while two only appear in the large series.
They are entitled 'Welsh Costume No. [1-6] without the additional titles which the same images have in the small set.
The original watercolours of four of these are in the National Library of Wales, wrongly attributed to Richard Dadd. They were all amended to reduce the height of the Welsh hats.
