{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O381378"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O381378/"}},"images":null,"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O381378","accessionNumber":"M.203-1978","objectType":"Table Heater","titles":[{"title":"CD 100","type":"series title"}],"summaryDescription":"Robert Welch (1929-2000) was trained at the Birmingham School of Art under Ralph Baxendale and Cyril Shiner.  From 1952 to 1955 he was at the Royal College of Art, after which he was appointed as design consultant to J.J. Wiggin of Bloxwich, manufacturers of stainless steel tableware.  Throughout his career he undertook many industrial design commissions (he designed the stainless steel tableware for the Orient liner &lt;font –I&gt;Oriana&lt;/font&gt;) while continuing to practise as a silversmith.","physicalDescription":"Table heater of cast iron, patinated black.  A squat cylinder supported on three, hemispherical feet, a wide falnge encirles the middle of the body, the circular candle holder holding a tea light is in the centre supported by three spokes attached to the internal circumference of the main body, the upper edge of ehich has three, equally place cut out sections.  The body supports a circular plate (detachable) with a  central, circular aperture from which radiates a continuous series of spokes.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Robert Welch","id":"A2965"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Victor Castings Ltd.","id":"AUTH343871"},"association":{"text":"maker","id":"x40240"},"note":"Initially produced by a manufacturing joint venture between Robert Welch and Wigmore Distributors, the manufacture of selected cast iron products from this range  transferred to Victor Castings Ltd. in 1975."}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"cast iron","id":"AAT11004"}],"techniques":[{"text":"casting","id":"AAT53104"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Cast iron","categories":[{"text":"Ironwork","id":"THES251837"},{"text":"Metalwork","id":"THES48920"},{"text":"Tableware & cutlery","id":"THES48888"}],"styles":[{"text":"Modernist","id":"AAT21474"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"MET","id":"THES48599"},"images":[],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES412209"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"003","id":"THES412209"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Table Heater","id":""}],[{"text":"Grill","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""},{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Tipton","id":"x36924"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Chipping Campden","id":"x33529"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1978","earliest":"1978-01-01","latest":"1978-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"date":{"text":"1961","earliest":"1961-01-01","latest":"1961-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Victor Castings Ltd","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Diameter","value":"19","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"27/03/2017","earliest":"2017-03-27","latest":"2017-03-27"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"DESIGNED BY ROBERT WELCH MADE IN ENGLAND","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Embossed lettering on the underside of the candle holder."},{"content":"Kitemark label for the London Design Centre","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Attached"}],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"Robert Welch's interest in cast iron dates from 1960.  Although a common enough material in the  manufacture of kitchen implements, it was at that  time a new material for tableware. Its use for items  suited to a dinner party is probably linked to the  interest in 'natural' and unadorned materials suited  to the growing habit of dining in the kitchen.\r\n\r\nWelch's first range of products in black iron included a  set of three candlesticks, pepper and salt mills and a  fruit stand as well as this nutcracker. The curved  flange forms, and, in this case, the bar-bell screw  press, are reminiscent of the bold simple shapes of  nineteenth century engineering. They proved to be  adaptable to a wide variety of applications which in  time formed a large number of related pieces.  Interest from export markets, principally Denmark  and the USA, was immediate when this range was  launched in 1962.\r\n\n[Eric Turner, 'British Design at Home', p.179]","briefDescription":"Table heater, cast iron, made by Victor Castings Ltd., Tipton, 1978, designed by Robert Welch, 1961.","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Charlotte and Peter Fiell, <u>Robert Welch, Design: Craft and Industry</u>, London, Laurence King Publishing, 2015, pp.97. ill. ISBN:  9781780676050"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Mass produced","id":"THES48863"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["M.203-1978","M.203PART-1978"],"accessionNumberNum":"203","accessionNumberPrefix":"M","accessionYear":1978,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE","Dish warmer","Grill"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-10-01","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-24","availableToBook":true}}