Lot Essay
The Bromsgrove Guild of Applied Arts was founded in 1898 by Walter Henry Gilbert (1871-1946). For nearly seventy years, until closure in 1966, they produced metalwork, stained glass, woodcarving and plasterwork of the highest quality. Particularly, the lead garden ornament is renowned for the fine standard of finish and detail which has been seldom equalled before or since. The firm was awarded a Grand Prix medal in the Paris Exhibition of 1900 and St. Louis, 1904. They set up a London outlet in 1908 and supplied the splendid gates to Buckingham Palace, receiving Royal Warrants from both Edward VII and George V. The firm's other famous contributions include the Cunard liner 'Lusitania' of 1906, the W.G. Grace Gates of Lords Cricket Ground and many others from the Bank of England to Harvey Nichols.