Provenance:
Christie’s, London, 19 March 1995, lot 136.
For a comparable panel see the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, accession number M.262-1984.
A total of 38 grilles and panels of varying sizes were made for the department store, Derry and Toms (Kensington High Street, London), which was rebuilt between 1929-1933 as an iconic seven storey Art Deco block designed by Bernard George, with the famous Roof Gardens opening later in 1938.
Gilbert was a key figure in the Bromsgrove Guild of Craftsmen at the turn of the 20th Century, later moving to rivals, H.H. Martyn. He designed several of the panels for the Derry and Toms commission.
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