.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Brynmawr Furniture Makers Ltd. was a furniture manufacturing company, which started in 1929 as an attempt by the Quakers to relieve the mass unemployment in the town of Brynmawr, Wales, in the early 1920s.
Although at first the company operated under primitive working conditions, before long they began turning out high quality commissions. The style of the furniture was in keeping with modern trends, and orders were taken mostly from private sources. The furniture was marketed as 'Welsh' and branded using Welsh place-names such as the Cwmbran chest, Llanelli table and the Cwm-du chair.
The success of Brynmar furniture was mainly due to the designer, Paul Matt. Matt was the son of and apprentice to Charles Matt, a Polish immigrant cabinet-maker who made furniture to the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He designed furniture that was simple in style and easy to put together, taking into account the lack of skills of his workers. His designs were clearly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement. The furniture itself was of very high quality, made principally from imported oak finished with a coat of clear wax, which gave an overall simple and minimal appearance, in line with the Quaker philosophy.
The advent of the Second World War, however, caused the Brynmawr Furniture Co. to cease trading in 1940.
Although at first the company operated under primitive working conditions, before long they began turning out high quality commissions. The style of the furniture was in keeping with modern trends, and orders were taken mostly from private sources. The furniture was marketed as 'Welsh' and branded using Welsh place-names such as the Cwmbran chest, Llanelli table and the Cwm-du chair.
The success of Brynmar furniture was mainly due to the designer, Paul Matt. Matt was the son of and apprentice to Charles Matt, a Polish immigrant cabinet-maker who made furniture to the designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. He designed furniture that was simple in style and easy to put together, taking into account the lack of skills of his workers. His designs were clearly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement. The furniture itself was of very high quality, made principally from imported oak finished with a coat of clear wax, which gave an overall simple and minimal appearance, in line with the Quaker philosophy.
The advent of the Second World War, however, caused the Brynmawr Furniture Co. to cease trading in 1940.