Alveston
Cutlery Set
1961 (designed), 1965 (made)
1961 (designed), 1965 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The Design Journal commented that:
`It was in August 1961 that Old Hall decided to add a range of high quality stainless steel cutlery to its products, commissioning Robert Welch to design it. Mr Welch decided to work within the classical Georgian idiom as he felt that the tendency during the past 10 years for short, stubby prongs on forks had gone far enough and that the length of cutlery should be increased rather than diminished, as is often the case today. He then made a number of prototypes in stainless steel and finally produced a place setting which was put out for user tests. The main characteristics of the set were that the table spoon had a deep and narrow bowl; the knife had a blade that was longer than is usual in stainless steel cutlery; the dinner forks had four prongs instead of three; and all the pieces had rounded ends to their shanks to fit comfortably into the palm of the hand, while all the forks had roots put into their prongs for easy cleaning. After a few modifications to these prototypes, notably to increase the thickness of the knife handle, another set was made in the designer's workshop from which the tools were cut.'
Robert Welch also designed a pack, left, to hold one place setting, using a vacuum formed polystyrene mould for the cutlery and a transparent cover. The pack is therefore especially suitable for display purposes.
`It was in August 1961 that Old Hall decided to add a range of high quality stainless steel cutlery to its products, commissioning Robert Welch to design it. Mr Welch decided to work within the classical Georgian idiom as he felt that the tendency during the past 10 years for short, stubby prongs on forks had gone far enough and that the length of cutlery should be increased rather than diminished, as is often the case today. He then made a number of prototypes in stainless steel and finally produced a place setting which was put out for user tests. The main characteristics of the set were that the table spoon had a deep and narrow bowl; the knife had a blade that was longer than is usual in stainless steel cutlery; the dinner forks had four prongs instead of three; and all the pieces had rounded ends to their shanks to fit comfortably into the palm of the hand, while all the forks had roots put into their prongs for easy cleaning. After a few modifications to these prototypes, notably to increase the thickness of the knife handle, another set was made in the designer's workshop from which the tools were cut.'
Robert Welch also designed a pack, left, to hold one place setting, using a vacuum formed polystyrene mould for the cutlery and a transparent cover. The pack is therefore especially suitable for display purposes.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 7 parts.
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| Title | Alveston (manufacturer's title) |
| Materials and techniques | Stainless steel, forged and polished. |
| Brief description | 'Alveston' Cutlery set, stainless steel, made by Old Hall Tableware Ltd, Walsall, 1965, designed by Robert Welch, 1961, Design Centre Award, 1965. |
| Physical description | A range of stainless steel cutlery which contains a seven piece place setting consisting of a table knife, a table fork, a soup spoon, a dessert knife, a dessert fork, a dessert spoon and a tea spoon. The knives have a straight leading edge, rounded tips and a curved cutting edge. The bowl of the forks have four tines. The spoons have oval bowls. All have waisted handles terminating in a bulbous end. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Mass produced |
| Credit line | Gift of Old Hall Tableware Ltd. |
| Object history | Historical significance: Winner of the Design Centre Award in 1965. A modified version of this design was created for Eurostar in 2005. |
| Summary | The Design Journal commented that: `It was in August 1961 that Old Hall decided to add a range of high quality stainless steel cutlery to its products, commissioning Robert Welch to design it. Mr Welch decided to work within the classical Georgian idiom as he felt that the tendency during the past 10 years for short, stubby prongs on forks had gone far enough and that the length of cutlery should be increased rather than diminished, as is often the case today. He then made a number of prototypes in stainless steel and finally produced a place setting which was put out for user tests. The main characteristics of the set were that the table spoon had a deep and narrow bowl; the knife had a blade that was longer than is usual in stainless steel cutlery; the dinner forks had four prongs instead of three; and all the pieces had rounded ends to their shanks to fit comfortably into the palm of the hand, while all the forks had roots put into their prongs for easy cleaning. After a few modifications to these prototypes, notably to increase the thickness of the knife handle, another set was made in the designer's workshop from which the tools were cut.' Robert Welch also designed a pack, left, to hold one place setting, using a vacuum formed polystyrene mould for the cutlery and a transparent cover. The pack is therefore especially suitable for display purposes. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.354&A to F-1965 |
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| Record created | June 24, 2009 |
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