This commemorative plaque was made for the official opening of the Gilbert Collection and unveiled by the Queen Mother on this occasion at Somerset House on 25th May 2000. The Cardozo Kindersley Workshop, located in Cambridge, England, specialises in cutting letters in stone. It was established in the mid-20th century by the stone-cutter and typeface designer David Kindersley (1915-95), a hugely influential figure in the support of workshop culture throughout the 1950s and 1960. Kindersley was a member of both the Designer Craftsman Society and the Crafts Council of Great Britain, becoming Chairman of the latter for a short while. Collaborations with the Dutch letter cutter Lida Lopes Cardozo began in the 1970s and she later became his wife. Evidence of their work can be seen on many churches and public buildings all over the United Kingdom.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world’s great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.