The Bust of ‘Crwys’ Williams and Jenkin Evans, sculptor: Part 2
Crwys - The National Eisteddfod, Aberavon 1966
Attribution - The National Library of Wales
We discussed the background of the famous local poet William ‘Crwys’ Williams and his wonderful poetry in the first part of this blog. His work led to the creation of the bronze bust you can see in Swansea Central Library today.
Cerddi Crwys, yn cynnwys 'Gwerin Cymru' a chaniadau eraill
Llanelli : James Davies, 1920
Crwys's success was reflected in the many editions of his poetry that came out in his lifetime much of which we have in our collections. This title page is one example from these books.
His literary success was tied into his long career as Archdruid through the difficult war time period. How effective Crwys was in this role can be seen at one notable moment, when he invested the future Queen, Princess Elizabeth, as an Honorary Ovate of the Gorsedd of the Bards of Wales at the National Eisteddfod of Wales at Mountain Ash on August 6th 1946. You can watch and hear Pathe news reel footage of Crwys in action at the Eisteddfod in this video:
The sculptor of the bronze bust was Jenkin/Jenkyn “Tawe” Evans, L.D.S. (1897-1966) of Ystalyfera. He was a dentist who sculpted in his spare time. He was the younger brother of the artist Vincent Evans who encouraged his brother’s sculpting. Jenkin started his serious sculpting career in the late thirties with a successful exhibit of a bust of a ‘Welsh Miner’ at the National Eisteddfod. In Swansea you can still see a bust also by Jenkin Evans of David Rhys Grenfell, former M.P. for Gower, on display in the Guildhall and there are also two other busts by him in the collections of the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. Crwys knew Evans personally and spoke an appreciation of him in a BBC Cymru programme Heddiw in the 1950s.
Jenkin Evans created the bust of Crwys in the late 40s, probably in commemoration of the end of his time as Archdruid, and it was exhibited in the famous Summer Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts, in London in 1948. It was also exhibited in the “The South Wales Group First Annual Exhibition, 1949”, which visited the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff, Newport Museum, the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and Merthyr Tydfil.
Article from the South Wales Evening Post ©
Extract from the catalogue of The 180th Exhibition of the Royal Academy, 1948.
Following the death of Jenkin Evans in 1966 funding to purchase the bust from Evans’s estate, on behalf of Swansea Council, was raised by private subscription. The bust was presented to the Chief Librarian of Swansea, Leslie Rees, on January 4th 1968, in a ceremony that was held beside Crwys’ bed in Mount Pleasant Hospital on his 93rd birthday, only nine days before his death. The bust was unveiled in Swansea Central Library on Alexandra Road by Alderman T. R. Davies on March 1st 1968. It stayed there until the Library moved to Swansea Civic Centre in 2008. The words of Leslie Rees on accepting the bust still ring true today:
"We are very proud to have it. We know your work is enshrined in the literature of our country. What better place than the library could be found for the bust."
Article from the South Wales Evening Post ©