Frieze panel

This cast aluminium panel was part of a decorative frieze over a lift entrance in the Derry & Toms building in Kensington High Street, London. The designer, Walter Gilbert, founded the Bromsgrove Guild in 1898. It was based in Birmingham. The Guild specialised in metalwork and jewellery and exhibited successfully at the Paris Centennial Exhibition in 1900. They were resposible for the main gates at Buckingham Palace, installed in 1913 during the remodelling of the facade by Sir Aston Webb. By the 1930s it had lost a lot of its original flair and was principally known for its finely detailed architectural metalwork, such as this Art Deco panel.

Frieze panel · Birmingham · 1933. cast iron. By Gilbert, Walter. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.