Robert Welch Campden toast rack reissued in limited edition run

Robert Welch Designs has reproduced the six-slice Campden toast rack in a limited edition run to mark the product’s 60th anniversary.

The new edition of the Campden toast rack is £40 and is available to buy from the new Design Museum shop in London.

There are only 600 copies of the reissued toast rack available, which are numbered and come with a replicate of its original packaging.

The Campden is a simple, stainless steel toast rack, which was first produced for kitchenware company Old Hall, where Welch was consultant designer.

It was first produced in 1956 in four and six-slice options, and remained in manufacture until 1982, when it was discontinued.

It was one of three award-winning products Welch produced for Old Hall, alongside a range of 22 dishes and the distinctive Alveston range of cutlery, known for its inverted – or “hollow” – handles, which aim to provide balance.

The toast rack was part of the Campden collection, which included saucepans, candle holders, a coffee set, cutlery and salt and pepper shakers.

It was also exhibited as a single item, seen at Robert’s first solo exhibition at Foyle’s Art Gallery in 1956, and received a Council of Industrial Design award in 1957, where it was described as having “elegant and ingenious construction”. The toast rack was also included in the council’s annual Design of the Year exhibition in 1958.

The Campden range’s simple aesthetic made it unique in the 1950s, as Welch’s designs conveyed a rawness and realism while other manufacturers adopted ornate styles.

It was named after the designer’s design studio based on the top floor of the Old Silk Mill in Chipping Campden, the Cotswolds, which he set up in 1955.

Alongside the Design Museum, the reissued toast rack is also available to buy from the Robert Welch website, or from the Robert Welch shops in Chipping Campden and Bath, and the Compton Verney shop in Warwickshire.

All photos © Robert Welch.