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Peter Weldon.
Artisan and Director of
Peter Weldon Iron Designs Ltd.
I was born in 1967 in Malawi, East Africa. My father was an Englishman working as a farmer on the Nchima tea estate in Thyolo. He arrived in Malawi in the 1950s as a young graduate in agriculture and met my mother, daughter of a Scotsman, working in a bank.
My mother’s family had settled in Africa a couple of generations before and she was born and raised in Malawi. Although I was just a little boy of seven when my family moved to England, it was my early years in Africa that gave me an adventurous spirit in business, design and travel.
We moved to Leicestershire, England, in 1974 where I spent the rest of my childhood. Now I have a family of my own - I married Louise in 1993 and we have two beautiful daughters, Evie who was born in 1996 and Robyn, who arrived in 2004.
I graduated from Staffordshire Polytechnic in 1989 with a first class BA (Hons) in Ceramic Design. For the next few years I worked in the ceramics industry, honing my design and modelmaking skills, before starting my own business in 1994.
I developed a particular interest in European creamware of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, which led to a commission to recreate the famous ‘Tulipieres’ from Chatsworth House, one of England's finest stately homes.
I also developed a technically difficult range of Sevres-style copies with lost-wax bronze mounts and raised paste gilding; most of these went to high end retailers and designers in the USA. (Click here to view a back-catalogue of my previous ceramic work)
After seven years’ successful ceramics manufacture, I decided it was time for a new venture and sold my business, complete with all moulds and copyrights, to Theodore Alexander, a leading manufacturer of 18th & 19th century reproduction furniture and accessories.
I was contracted to relocate the factory to new premises in Vietnam so in March 2002 I moved to Ho Chi Minh for 12 months with my wife Louise and daughter Evelyn. I made many friends and contacts during this period - and even picked up a little of the language.
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While in Vietnam, my eye was drawn to the wealth and beauty of ironwork - a legacy of French colonial days. I found the Vietnamese to be skilled steel fabricators and both friendly and hardworking. I met my future business partner and the seeds of a new enterprise were sown.
Peter Weldon Iron Designs began trading in late 2002. The factory is managed by my friend and business partner Anh Hai and employs 25 skilled and versatile metalworkers - not just manufacturers, but craftsmen in their trade.
Each item is built at the factory then shipped to the UK by seafreight container. This ensures that all elements fit correctly and are suitably protected for transport to the UK and on to the various final destinations, ready for assembly.
I am based in Carmarthen, South Wales, and am personally responsible for all design work. My wife Louise, a skilled pattern designer, works alongside me producing fine ironwork design and drawing, photoshop work and pattern visuals. I am a frequent visitor to Vietnam and consider it to be a second home. |
