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Bespoke 'Ynysddu' oak armchair made by Brynmawr Furniture Company, 1930s.

Brynmawr furniture was designed by Paul Matt, a Quaker and skilled cabinet maker. He wanted to create simple, well-made furniture that could be constructed by unskilled hands. He experimented with laminated ply panels placed into wooden bevelled frames and finished with a clear varnish. This simple design became the distinctive look for Brynmawr furniture.

The town of Brynmawr was among the poorest in Wales in the 1920s. Here, the Quakers believed their utopian aims could be realised, to create work and re-skill the unemployed. These ideals were promoted throughout their marketing and appealed to the middle and professional classes of the 1930s. Among other enterprises set up within the town were bootmaking, hosiery and weaving but the furniture was the most successful.

Brynmawr furniture was available to buy through mail-order or within the large department stores across England and Wales. In 1938 the company had a permanent showroom in London's fashionable Cavendish Square. David Morgan, a well-known Cardiff department store provided exhibition space free of charge for the products and exhibitions were held at the National Eisteddfodau. The furniture was marketed as 'Welsh' and branded using Welsh place-names such as the Cwmbran chest, Llanelli table and the Cwmdu chair.

Upholstery: The chair has a fitted, sprung seat cushion covered with pattern-woven fabric, finished off with piping using the same fabric. It has a stylised leaf pattern in red on cream/gold ground. It is filled with horse hair. The back has a cushion which is attached to the upper rear of the chair with three metal poppers. This cushion appears to have a feather filling. The warps are cotton, the red pattern wefts are wool and the cream wefts are a mixture of both types of fibre. All yarns have an S-twist.