This drawing is one of three designs for a silver, white gold and diamond horse-racing trophy, produced by Wally Gilbert in 2000. The successful design is accompanied by two alternatives which show different options for the patterns on the surface of the trophy.

The trophy was commissioned by the jewellers De Beers for the Diamond Stakes at Ascot held on Saturday 29th July 2000. The brief required a design that reflected the piece’s purpose as a horse-racing trophy, with some reference to horses in the design. Gilbert found such a figurative element was antithetical to his abstract style. When the trophy was presented, however, observers remarked that the flowing lines of the chased design suggested the waves of a horse’s mane; this resemblance was purely coincidental but fortunate given the brief. The commission involved working on a much larger scale than Gilbert was previously accustomed to, and employed new material in the form of a ‘tarnish free’ silver. Unfortunately, the alloy began to crack when the trophy was nearing completion and meant that the dish needed to be riveted. Gilbert incorporated this emergency measure (obviously not indicated in the drawings) into the design. As executed the dish was also embellished with 1000 pavé set diamonds in 18 carat white gold lozenges.

The V&A is also home to two examples of Gilbert’s silversmithing work. The first is a hand-wrought silver and gold necklace and pendant [Museum Number M.148-1984], made in 1983 and acquired in 1984. In 2008, the Museum also acquired a silver server [Museum Number M.51-2008] made by Gilbert in 1993. The De Beers Trophy drawings complete the narrative of Gilbert’s progression into silversmithing, the roots of which lie in his early career as a jewellery maker and designer. The silver server was made a few years prior to Gilbert’s decision to focus on silver working and is an early example of his very distinctive use of flowing lines, which draw on the sinuous, naturalistic motifs of Art Nouveau and Arts and Crafts design. The drawings show how this visual language developed over the intervening years, and are an impressive example of Wally Gilbert’s skill as both a draftsman and silversmith.