Robert Radford Welch (1929 – 2000) was an English designer and silversmith.
Education
He studied painting at the Malvern School of Art under Victor Moody from 1946 to 1947 and 1949 to 1950. Silversmithing at Birmingham College of Art between 1950 and 1952. Between 1952 and 1955, he studied silversmithing at the Royal College of Art in London, mentored by Robert Gooden.
Biography
In 1955, he opened his studio in Chipping Campden, following in the footsteps of the Arts and Crafts designers who had previously worked at C.R. Ashbee’s Guild of Handicrafts.
He worked as a consultant designer for Old Hall Tableware from 1955 to 1959 and designed a stainless-steel toast rack for them. Flatware, enamel steel pieces, lighting, door furniture, alarm clocks, bathroom fixtures, and cast-iron cooking utensils were among his specialty designs and items.
Welch visited Scandinavia four times as a student, studying in Stockholm and working with Norwegian silversmith Theodor Olsen. He was deeply influenced by Scandinavian modernism, which instilled in him a love of practical precision and the clean line. He was inspired by Scandinavian architecture after visiting Sweden and Norway in 1953 and 1954. He chose to concentrate his studies on designing for stainless steel in his final year at the Royal College of Art, writing his thesis on The Design and Production of Stainless Steel Tableware and concentrating his final projects on improving its look.
He was a professor at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts from 1956 to 1959 and the Royal College of Art from 1960 to 1971.
He made cast-iron and enamel cookware for Prinz in 1966 and Lauffer in 1970, stoneware for Brixham Pottery in 1970, clocks for Westclox, and lamps for Lumitron, among other items for private commissions and manufacturers. He added a retail store to his studio in 1969. His professional knife line, released by Kitchen Devil in 1979, was widely publicised.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The Design Encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
Wikipedia contributors. (2021, May 4). Robert Welch (designer). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 23:07, May 15, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Welch_(designer)&oldid=1021420844
More on Silversmiths
-
Harry Bertoia (1915 – 1978) Italian sculptor, furniture designer
Harry Bertoia was a sculptor, printmaker, jeweller, and furniture designer. He was born in San Lorenzo, Udine, and worked in the United States professionally. During World War Two he worked with Ray and Charles Eames on moulded-plywood technology. He worked primarily as a sculptor from the mid-1950s onwards. His sculpture was prominently featured in many of Eero Saarinen’s buildings.Read More →
-
Alma Eikerman (1908 – 1995) American jewellery designer and silversmith
Alma Eikerman (1908 – 1995) was an American jewellery designer and silversmith. Eikerman was born in Pratt, Kansas, and graduated from Kansas State College in Emporia with a B.Sc. in 1934 and an M.Sc. in 1942. Read More →
-
Bertel Gardberg (1916 – 2007) Finnish Jeweller and Metalworker
Bertel Gardberg was a Finnish jeweller and metal worker. Between 1938-1941 he studied at Taideteollin Korkeaukoulu, Helsinki. He began his working life in Copenhagen. Gardberg moved to Helsinki where he maintained a studio between 1949-1966. He was responsible for stainless steel and silver designs produced by the Georg Jensen Solvsmedie; Galeries Lafayette department store, Paris and Kilkenny Design workshops, Dublin. Although he was known for his metal wares, he also worked in wood and stone.Read More →
-
Louis Rault (1847 – 1903) French sculptor, engraver and jewellery designer
Louis Rault (1847 – 1903) was a French Sculptor, engraver, silversmith and jewellery designer.Between 1868 and 1875, Rault worked in the Boucheron workshop on the Place Vendôme in Paris. At the end of the nineteenth century, he set up a workshop where he produced silver and jewellery in the Art Nouveau style.Read More →
-
Anatomy of a Hallmark 🤔
A hallmark is a symbol or device struck at an assay office on gold or silver, indicating that article conforms to legal standards of manufacture established by the monarch, local guilds, government etc. Literally, mark applied at Goldsmith’s Hall (London assay office since 1300) but extended to cover e.g. all five stamps found on Victorian silver until 1890: assay office mark specific to each assay office; Read More →
-
Fred G. Minuth (1884 – 1966) American Silversmith
Fred G. Minuth was an American Silversmith. He was professionally active in Chicago.Read More →
-
Erna Zarges-Dürr (1907-2002) – German silversmith
Erna Zarges-Dürr (1907-2002) was a German silversmith. She was professionally active Pforzheim, Leipzig, Berlin. and Stuttgart. Between 1924-27, she trained at Bruckmann und Söhne, Heilbronn, as the first women in the silversmiths’ department. From 1927, she studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Pforzheim, under Theodor Wende and others. Read More →
-
Franz Rickert (1904-1991) German Silversmith
He worked as a silversmith from 1926 and became one of the most important silversmiths in Munich and an outstanding enameler. 1935-72, he taught at the Staatsschule (later Akademie) fur angewandte Kunst in Munich. In the 1950s and 1960s, he designed numerous religious objects.Read More →
-
Wiwen Nilsson (1897 – 1974) Swedish Silver Designer
He was trained in the workshop of his father Anders Nilsson. He studied at the Konigliche Preussische Zeichenakademie, Hanau (Germany), and in the Paris studio of Georg Jensen while at the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere and Académie Colarossi.Read More →
-
Brian Anthony Asquith (1930 – 2008) British silversmith and industrial designer
Brian Asquith (1930 – 2008) was one of the principal figures in British silversmithing during the 20th century, now regarded as the industry’s heroic age. Read More →
-
Helicon Vase symbolises music and poetry
A Helicon vase is a centrepiece named after Mount Helicon in Greece. It was sacred to the ancient Greek muses. Read More →
-
Arno Malinowki (1899 – 1976) Danish sculptor and metalworker
His jewellery designs of a kneeling deer, a dolphin in the rushes, and butterflies on a flower, which he created in 1937, were produced for many years. In 1940, he created the ‘Kingmark’ to commemorate King Christian’s seventieth birthday. It was mass-produced and worn by Danes to demonstrate their allegiance to Denmark and opposition to the German occupation. Read More →
-
Emmy Roth (1885 – 1942) German / Israeli Silversmith
In 1916, she established her workshop in Berlin-Charlottenburg. Her early work was influenced by the Baroque, but her later work was more straightforward, as evidenced by her fruit dish in The Studio, 1929.Read More →
-
Silver and twentieth-century design
The impact of silver metal technology has driven the development of modern furnishings throughout the 20th century. The transformation of a chair into a sculptural statement, for example. Interior metal objects have not always been at the forefront of modern design within a multi-function. With the emphasis on warmth and comfort in the home, the scope for a wide range of metal products for this domain is not there.Read More →
-
Gunilla Jung (d. 1939) Finnish silversmith and lighting designer
Gunilla Jung was a glass and lighting artist and Silversmith. She designed glassware for Karhula (later Iittala) in the 1930s at the Institute of Applied Arts in Helsinki. Maybe best known for her pioneering lighting projects, such as in Helsinki’s Savoy Theatre. Taito created her first silver designs and, later in the 1930s, others by Viri and Kultaseppät. She worked with Frans Nykänen, who at varying times was a director at both silversmithies.Read More →
-
Cylinda Line Teapot by Arne Jacobsen
The Cylinda Line featured a close design connection among all aspects and the consistency of features throughout, including logo and packaging. It was designed over three years by International Style architect Jacobsen in collaboration with its manufacturer, Stelton. Read More →
-
Jean Puiforcat (1897 – 1945) French Art Deco Silversmith
His silver work was based on the geometric series and had smooth surfaces. Pieces were embellished with ivory, onyx, lapis lazuli, and rosewood. He also used gilding.Read More →
-
Erik Magnussen (1884 – 1961) Danish silversmith and designer
Danish silversmith of Art Deco and Cubist works Erik Magnussen was a silversmith and designer from Denmark. He lived in the United States from 1925 to 1939, first as artistic director of the Gorham Manufacturing Company in New York City and subsequently with his workshop in Chicago and Los Angeles.Read More →
-
Marius Hammer (1847 – 1927) Norwegian silversmith
Hammer was head of one of Norway’s largest silversmithies. He was best known for his plique-a-jour enamelled spoons popular with tourists and exported in large quantities. He produced the ‘Norwegian brilliant enamel work’ spoons offered in the 1896 and 1898 Christmas catalogues of Liberty, London. Read More →
-
Robert Welch (1929 – 2000) English designer and silversmith
He studied painting at the Malvern School of Art under Victor Moody from 1946 to 1947 and 1949 to 1950. Silversmithing at Birmingham College of Art between 1950 and 1952. Between 1952 and 1955, he studied silversmithing at the Royal College of Art in London, mentored by Robert Gooden.Read More →
You may also be interested in
Erna Zarges-Dürr (1907-2002) – German silversmith – Encyclopedia of Design
Erna Zarges-Dürr (1907-2002) was a German silversmith. She was professionally active Pforzheim, Leipzig, Berlin. and Stuttgart. Between 1924-27, she trained at Bruckmann und Söhne, Heilbronn, as the first women in the silversmiths’ department. From 1927, she studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule, Pforzheim, under Theodor Wende and others.
Nigel Coates (1949 – ) English architect and designer
Nigel Coates (1949 – ) is an architect from the United Kingdom. He was born and raised in Malvern, Worcestershire, and attended Hanley Castle Grammar School before attending the University of Nottingham (1968-71) and the Architectural Association (1972-74) He co-founded Branson Coates Architecture with Doug Branson in 1985 before opening his architecture and design studio in 2006.
Robert Bonfils (1886 – 1972) French Graphic Artist, Painter and Designer
Born in Paris, Robert Bonfils (1886 – 1972) was a French graphic artist, painter, and designer. He studied at the École Germain-Pilon in 1903 and at the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris in 1906. He worked for Henri Hamm, a furniture designer.
Frantz Hingelberg Danish Silversmiths
Frantz Hingleberg is a Danish silversmith located in Arhus. They were a retail and production silversmith for the Danish Royal Court. Frantz Hingelberg founded the company in 1897 as a retailer with a separate workshop for gold and silver. Vilhelm, Frantz’s son, took over as manager.
Frantz Jourdain (1847 – 1935) Belgian architect and author
Frantz Jourdain (1847 – 1935) was an architect and author from Belgium. He is best known for La Samaritaine, an Art Nouveau department store designed in three stages between 1904 and 1928 in Paris’s 1st arrondissement. He was regarded as an Art Nouveau expert. In 1847, Frantz Jourdain was born.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.