Trained at the Royal College of Art in London where he was a contemporary of David Mellor, Robert Welch was one of the leading British designers of the 20th century. Strongly influenced both by the artisanal tradition of the Arts & Crafts movement and by Scandinavian Design, he set up his own studio in the mid-1950s, initially working on silverware, then branching out into broader product design. His Alveston tableware range won a Design Council award in 1965. In the same year he was appointed a Royal Designer for Industry, creating elegant functional designs both for mass production and for one-off commissions. Robert Welch Design: Craft & Industry traces both the progress of Welchs career, design philosophy and the evolution of the company and products that he created. Lavishly illustrated with exclusive material from the Robert Welch Archive, including working sketches and rare archive photography, this is the definitive book on one of the 20th century's greatest product designers.