Chef Royal saucepans thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Chef Royal saucepans

Saucepan
1961 (designed), 1963 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Edward Curran Engineering Co. was founded in Cardiff in 1903 by Edward Curran, whose father Charles was an Irish stonemason who had settled in Cardiff, then a thriving coal port. Edward Curran was also a stonemason. The company opened a foundry in Hurman street, Butetown, in or adjacent to the site of the former Bute Shipbuilding and Engineering Works. The firm initially specialised in producing furnaces for annealing metals, one of which was built for Mountstuart Dry Docks in Cardiff in 1909.

Immediately before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Curran's supplied several annealing furnaces to the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, and had built a major munitions factory in Ward End, Birmingham. In 1915 Curran's converted a building next to their iron foundry into a plant for manufacturing shell casings.

After the First World War the business diversified and it products included enamelled metalware, including cups and plates. These were manufactured using the staff and equipment previously used for shell casing production, and Curran's maintained their capability to manufacture munitions.

After the Second World War the factory resumed the production of enamelware. In 1961 they started production of pressed steel baths, and acrylic baths in 1972.

In 1973 the company was acquired by the Building Products division of Reed International, adding Curran's steel and acrylic bath products to the toilets and washbasins of Twyford, which Reed had acquired in 1971. In 1985 Caradon Ltd acquired Reed International's Building Products division, including Curran.

Curran's factory in Cardiff closed in 2005. The buildings were demolished and the site used for housing.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Lid
  • Saucepan
TitleChef Royal saucepans (manufacturer's title)
Materials and techniques
Steel and vitreous enamel, moulded plastic.
Brief description
Chef Royal saucepan, Berkeley Associates, Edward Curran Engineering, Cardiff, 1963. Winner of a Design Centre Award 1961.
Physical description
Chef Royal saucepans, vitreous enamelled steel with plastic handles and chromium plated rims. The bowl, circular, the sides slighly flared, the rim chromium plated, the black plastic handle attached to the side by a socket. The lid, detachable, has a raised rim so that the lid fits snugly within the pot, a black plastic knop, an inverted cone placed in the centre.
Dimensions
  • Height: 12.7cm (Note: Dimensions taken from the register and converted to cm. In register height 5 inches.)
  • Depth: 21.9cm (Note: Dimensions taken from the register and converted to cm. In register depth 8 5/8 inches.)
Style
Production typeMass produced
Credit line
Gift of the manufacturer
Object history
Historical significance: Winner of the Design Centre Award in 1961
Summary
The Edward Curran Engineering Co. was founded in Cardiff in 1903 by Edward Curran, whose father Charles was an Irish stonemason who had settled in Cardiff, then a thriving coal port. Edward Curran was also a stonemason. The company opened a foundry in Hurman street, Butetown, in or adjacent to the site of the former Bute Shipbuilding and Engineering Works. The firm initially specialised in producing furnaces for annealing metals, one of which was built for Mountstuart Dry Docks in Cardiff in 1909.

Immediately before the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Curran's supplied several annealing furnaces to the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, and had built a major munitions factory in Ward End, Birmingham. In 1915 Curran's converted a building next to their iron foundry into a plant for manufacturing shell casings.

After the First World War the business diversified and it products included enamelled metalware, including cups and plates. These were manufactured using the staff and equipment previously used for shell casing production, and Curran's maintained their capability to manufacture munitions.

After the Second World War the factory resumed the production of enamelware. In 1961 they started production of pressed steel baths, and acrylic baths in 1972.

In 1973 the company was acquired by the Building Products division of Reed International, adding Curran's steel and acrylic bath products to the toilets and washbasins of Twyford, which Reed had acquired in 1971. In 1985 Caradon Ltd acquired Reed International's Building Products division, including Curran.

Curran's factory in Cardiff closed in 2005. The buildings were demolished and the site used for housing.
Collection
Accession number
CIRC.431&A-1963

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Record createdApril 26, 2011
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