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A heart-shaped pincushion decorated with glass beads and paper decoupage showing the crest of the 41st and 69th Foot Welch Regiment, including the motto ‘Gwell angau na chywilydd’ (Better death than dishonour). It was made by Brinley Rhys Edmunds of Barry during the First World War as a gift for his mother. He died of dysentery at Konigsbruck Prisoner of War Camp on 5 September 1918, aged 19, while serving with the Durham Light Infantry. He originally enlisted with the Welch Regiment, but was discharged for being underage in 1915.

Heart-shaped pincushions such as this one are often referred to as ‘sweetheart pincushions’. It would seem that these pincushions were commercially produced as kits for convalescing and disabled soldiers.