Auction Catalogue

14 April 1999

Starting at 1:00 PM

.

Ancient, British and World Coins, Tokens, and Historical Medals

The Arts Club  40 Dover St  London  W1S 4NP

Lot

№ 656

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14 April 1999

Hammer Price:
£820

The crown prize for the royal national eisteddfod of wales held at colwyn bay 1910, a silver crown, quartered arms of four lions guardant (the arms of Wales) inset in red enamel and silver, with supporters goat and dragon rampant each side, between ram’s horns with Prince of Wales feathers and motto ich dien (I serve) above, sign of the Gorsedd (three sunrays) below, oak sprigs and leeks supporting, the top of the horns engraved calon wrth galon (heart to heart) and iesu na’d gamwaith (Jesus will not allow wrong), the Crown’s band with eisteddfod. frenhinol. genedlaethol.cymru. colwyn bay.1910. (Royal National Eisteddfod of Wales Colwyn Bay 1910) in high relief to the fore, engraved W. Jones & Sons), hallmarked Birmingham 1909, diameter 8 1/4 in. The Crown is lacking the inner headdress support but is otherwise good condition, a unique and important item of Welsh heritage (£700-800)

The Eisteddfod is Wales’s foremost cultural event, celebrating poetry, singing and other arts. Welsh eisteddfodau have a very ancient history, supposedly dating from pre-Roman times. It can be traced with certainty to an event at Cardigan castle in 1176 and was an established tradition by the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Thereafter it declined but was revived towards the late 18th century by emergent London Welsh learned societies and Edward Williams (known as Iolo Morganwg). From 1881 the eisteddfod has been more closely regulated than beforehand, with strict rules on how poems are structured and for example, the form of music composed for the harp. It was also decided that the event be held annually, alternating between North and South Wales. The two highest prizes are the Crown and the Chair, both individually crafted for each year’s eisteddfod. Medals are awarded as other prizes. Occasionally these prizes are withheld if it is deemed the quality of work entered is unworthy.
This crown was awarded to Crwys, the bardic name of William Crwys Williams (1875-1968) for his poem
Ednyfed Fychian at the 1910 Colwyn Bay eisteddfod. He subsequently won the crown again in 1911 and 1919. A Congregationalist minister (1898-1914) from Glamorgan, he was a well known poet in the Welsh-speaking culture
and Archdruid from 1939-1947.
See Back cover colour illustration