Robert Welch (designer)

Robert Welch (designer)

Robert Radford Welch RDI
MBE (21 May 1929 – 15 March 2000) was an English designer and silversmith. His style helped define British modernism.

Life

Welch was born in Hereford and brought up in Malvern in Worcestershire. While at school he briefly played cricket for the Second XI of Worcestershire County Cricket Club, serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II.cite news|title=Robert Welch - Obituary: Renowned craftsman helped to revolutionise post-war silver industry|work=Birmingham Post|publisher=Mirror Regional Newspapers|page=4|date=2000-03-22|accessdate=2008-07-13]

He trained as a silversmith at Birmingham School of Art, where he met and later married a fellow student, Patricia Hinksman. He then went on to study at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in 1952. As a student, he made two extended visits to Scandinavia, studying in Stockholm and working with a Norwegian silversmith. Scandinavian modernism made a huge impression on Welch, giving him a love of functional precision and the clean line.cite news|first=Fiona|last=MacCarthy|title=Robert Welch: His clocks, cutlery and candlesticks helped to define 'contemporary' style|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,3977289,00.html|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian News and Media Limited|page=24|date=2000-03-23|accessdate=2008-07-13]

In his final year at RCA, Welch did some work for J&J Wiggin, a small family firm in Bloxwich, north of Birmingham. J&J Wiggin was the only British manufacturer of stainless steel tableware, marketing pieces under the brand Old Hall. In 1955, Welch was appointed Wiggin's design consultant, an association which lasted until the firm closed down in 1984.

In 1955 Welch set up a studio in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire in a silk mill that had formerly been the home of Charles Robert Ashbee's Guild and School of Handicraft.cite news|first=Margot|last=Coatts|title=Obituary: Robert Welch|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000320/ai_n14282953|work=The Independent|publisher=Newspaper Publishing PLC|page=6|date=2000-03-20|accessdate=2008-07-13]

Welch is probably best known for the Alveston tableware range, named after his home near Stratford. Designed in 1962. Alveston is a masterfully designed range, composed of elegant curves and beautifully considered planes. This design is considered to be one of Welch's best work, and won the prestigious Design Council award in 1965.

External links

* [http://www.welch.co.uk/ Robert Welch UK] Official website

References


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