Welsh Journals

THE U.C.W. ARTS AND CRAFTS MUSEUM The period between 1918 and 1936 saw the formation of an impor- tant craft collection in Aberystwyth founded by the Davies sisters of Llandinam. It had a brief flowering. Just at the moment when the collections had begun to be viable the funds were cut off, the buying stopped and the collection gradually began to be put aside and for- gotten. The idea of the craft collection was the brain child of a group of influential people with a variety of backgrounds, aims and ideals. All believed fervently in Aberystwyth and the College and wanted to give it a position and significance in Wales. These people were Prof- essor Fleure, Dr. Thomas Jones, C.H., the Davies family of Llandinam, in particular Gwendoline and Margaret Davies, and Sydney Green- slade the first architect of the National Library of Wales. Professor Fleure had begun to take an interest in the College Museum in the first decade of the century. Instead of seeing it merely as a teaching collection for the science departments he wished to develop a more broadly based museum which would add to the educational standards and amenities of Aberystwyth but also act as a focus for the arts and crafts in the area. Looking back in 1920 he recalled In 1906 I cleared the fossils and pickled fish from the Museum and ever since I have worked for a Museum giving a sketch of human workmanship in periods and regions and what has been done has been done without College money. It was always the plan to work up to a collection of fine modem workmanship and it was thought that this with the background provided by the collections of old things and of ethnographic material would form a good basis for Arts and Crafts.'1 He was a passionate believer in the values instilled by William Morris and obviously preached the message whenever he had the opportunity. This idea was discussed at an Eisteddfod in 1916 and is referred to in a letter of September of that year We could develop a growing organisation for promotion of Arts and Crafts and Music. One of the Arts could be fine printing, another would be illumin- ating and another would be Design-a real attempt to revise and develop Celtic ornament.'3 He hoped that the establishment of a good museum which had a special interest in Welsh antiquities and traditional crafts would bring about greater awareness among people in Wales and would provide a foundation for some sort of art and craft revival. In 1917 Dan Jones, who was previously employed as a drawing master and craft teacher at Aberystwyth summer schools, became a permanent member of staff,