Chadwick's first Mobiles and Stabiles are constructed of balsa wood and aluminium wire, which  moved effortlessly in the slightest air currant.  Initially they were displayed as features on the trade stalls of Aluminium and furniture firms, but in 1949 Chadwick showed a small mobile in the window of  Gimpel Fils' Gallery  on South Molton street, London.  He was offered a solo show at gallery the following year. 

 

1950 proved to further his recognition, as Chadwick was commissioned to make both a large Mobile for the Tower of Jane Drew's riverside restaurant and a large Stabile for Misha Black and Alexander Gibson's Regatta restaurant, both situated on the Southbank. 

 

These sculptures were an integral part of  the South Bank's Festival of Britain in 1951.  The scale and durability required of these works compelled Chadwick to learn how to weld, a practice which was central to the evolution of his work.