Wireless
1932 (made), 1931 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This radio, or wireless as it would have been known when it was first made, combined new technology, materials and style. The Ekco Consolette number SH25 is an early example of a mass-produced mains table wireless, and was the first set to have the stations marked on the dial. The Art Deco case, designed by J. K. White, exploited the possibilities of Bakelite, a new plastic which enabled complex shapes to be moulded in high-speed industrial processes. The Art Deco style was popular for such small decorative household objects. Radio broadcasting had been made possible in the UK only in 1920, as a result of Marconi’s experimental radio station in Essex. Radio rapidly became a popular form of entertainment, following the founding of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), the widespread use of short-wave radio in the mid 1920s and an increase in the number of broadcasting stations throughout the country.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Compression-moulded phenol-formaldehyde ('Bakelite'), copper, woven fabric |
| Brief description | Brown bakelite Art Deco wireless set with silhouette of trees on speaker, designed by J. K. White for Ekco Plastics Ltd., Britain, early 1930s |
| Physical description | Brown phenol-formaldehyde ('Bakelite') wireless with a compression-moulded case and a circular dial in the centre. The dial has a circular panel in the middle with a metal panel of trees in silhouette against a fabric backing; the ring around is is printed with the names of radio stations. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Credit line | Given by E. K. Cole and Company |
| Object history | Given to the Museum in 1966 by Messrs E.K. Cole [66/1367]. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This radio, or wireless as it would have been known when it was first made, combined new technology, materials and style. The Ekco Consolette number SH25 is an early example of a mass-produced mains table wireless, and was the first set to have the stations marked on the dial. The Art Deco case, designed by J. K. White, exploited the possibilities of Bakelite, a new plastic which enabled complex shapes to be moulded in high-speed industrial processes. The Art Deco style was popular for such small decorative household objects. Radio broadcasting had been made possible in the UK only in 1920, as a result of Marconi’s experimental radio station in Essex. Radio rapidly became a popular form of entertainment, following the founding of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), the widespread use of short-wave radio in the mid 1920s and an increase in the number of broadcasting stations throughout the country. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | CIRC.755-1966 |
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| Record created | December 13, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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