Formnext Germany

3D Printed “Black Chair” Replica Honoring Welsh Poet Hedd Wyn Unveiled Yesterday in Wales

Share this Article

As the eldest of eleven children, Ellis Humphrey Evans was meant for a life as a Welsh sheep farmer, but his days played out in an entirely different manner with the onset of WWI.

RNP_MAI_010814Chair_1001JPGThe young Evans would become known as “Hedd Wyn” — or “Blessed Peace” — and found early fame as a poet.

That budding career came to a halt in 1917 when Evans was killed in action at Pilckem Ridge in France during the Battle of Passchendaele. He was posthumously awarded the Welsh National Eisteddfod Chair, an honor bestowed upon a Welsh poet whose work was deemed the best of each year.

As a result, the chair was draped in black following the announcement of his victory, and his death.

A 6-foot-tall replica of the famous Gadair Ddu, or Black Chair, has been recreated using a 3D printer, as we reported last month, and was officially unveiled today, January 13, in Wales.

“As we commemorate one hundred years since the outbreak of the First World War, the Gadair Ddu has become a symbol of the devastating impact the Great War had on communities and families across Wales, many of who lost fathers, brothers, uncles and sons to the conflict,” said First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones . “This is true of Hedd Wyn, whose tragic death on the battlefield in Flanders in 1917 meant he could never claim his Eisteddfod chair, now known as the Black Chair.”

Welsh poet Hedd Wyn (Elis Evans)

Welsh poet Hedd Wyn (Ellis Evans)

Commissioned by wealthy builder David Evans, the original chair was designed and created by a Belgian craftsman, Eugeen Vanfleteren, and it was awarded posthumously draped in black cloth.

The chair awarded to the poet is kept at Hedd Wyn’s family farm house in the Snowdonia National Park.

It was painted a light color to highlight the fine details of the carving, and the copy is so complete in its details that it includes all the the marks of wear and tear inflicted on it over 100 years.

Alan Llwyd, the contemporary Welsh poet – and a two-time winner of the chair himself – calls the work of Hedd Wyn “a rich, complex, allegorical poem,” and adds that it was “possibly the most ambitious of any Eisteddfod winner of the 20th century.”

The replica chair will ultimately be displayed in St. Fagans National History Museum in Cardiff. Let us know your thoughts on this project, and whether you have a chance to see the 3D printed chair, at the Black Chair forum thread at 3DPB.com.

hedd wyn chair unveiled

The Black Chair 3D printed replica is unveiled by Carwyn Jones, First Minister of Wales
Image: Welsh Government Twitter feed

Wyn poem handwrittenY Rhyfel (War)

– by Hedd Wyn

Woe that I live in sullen days,

That God is setting like a sun

And in his place, as lord and slave,

Man raises forth his heinous throne.

When he thought God was gone at last

He put his brother to the sword.

Now death is roaring in our ears,

Shadowing the shanties of the poor.

The harps to which we sang are hung

On willow boughs, and their refrain

Drowned by the anguish of the young

Whose blood is mingled with the rain.



Share this Article


Recent News

Stratasys & Automation Intelligence Open North American Tooling Center in Flint

AM Research Report Predicts Dental 3D Printing Market to Reach $9.6B in Revenue by 2033



Categories

3D Design

3D Printed Art

3D Printed Food

3D Printed Guns


You May Also Like

3D Printing News Briefs, June 4, 2025: Full-Color Slicer, Denture Implants, & More

In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’ll start with some software and post-processing news, and then move on to a case report in which digital dentistry was successfully used. Read...

AM Research: Satellites Identified as Major 3D Printing Market Growth Opportunity

Over the last ten years, the satellite industry has grown significantly. In the “new space race” going on between the more industrialized nations of the world, stiff competition has resulted...

3D Systems Showcases Inkjetting for 3D Printed Dentures

The dental 3D printing market is currently the most competitive sector in additive manufacturing. With end-to-end solutions, low-cost printers, high-end systems, metals, polymers, and software, the industry is rapidly evolving....

3D Printing and Dentistry: 2024’s Progress, 2025’s Promise

Few industries have embraced technology as naturally as dentistry did with 3D printing. From faster workflows to new materials, additive manufacturing has cemented itself as a cornerstone of modern dental...