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Eisteddfod chair

T'ou-si-wl-zi-ka-wei

Ornate Chinese style chair covered with oriental carvings of figures, dragons, snakes etc. Carvings depict scenes and symbols from the ancient fables of China.

The Wrexham National Eisteddfod chair of 1933 is almost identical to that of Swansea in 1926, firmly in the Chinese tradition. Apart from the date, location and Gorsedd motto, the inscriptions and carvings are all Chinese. It was commissioned by J. R. Jones of Hong Kong on behalf of the Shanghai Welsh Society. Jones was originally from Llanuwchllyn and had moved to China in 1924 and became General Secretary of the International Council in 1928. He was an avid Eisteddfod-goer with a passion for Chinese art. The chair was made in the craft workshops of the T'ou-se-we Catholic orphanage on the outskirts of Shanghai. It took over a year for four craftsmen to make the chair from Indian rosewood. The chair was shipped from Shanghai to Wrexham in a wooden crate and awarded to Trefin (Edgar Phillips).

Eisteddfod chair
Image: © Amgueddfa Cymru - Museum Wales
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Collection Area

Social & Cultural History

Item Number

F81.51

Historical Associations

Associated Person/Body: Shanghai Welsh Society
Association Type:
Date: 1933

Creation/Production

T'ou-si-wl-zi-ka-wei

Acquisition

Bequest

Measurements

overall (cm): 157
Depth (cm): 74
Width (cm): 98

Material

rosewood
teak

Location

In store
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