Working from a studio on the edge of the Peak District National Park, QEST Winch Design Scholar Rob Walker of byUMBERTO has completed a striking new commission for creative studio The SUPERULTRARARE®. Installed on 8 May, the suspended reverse-gilded glass panel combines endangered British craft processes with a distinctly contemporary visual language.

Commissioned as a centrepiece for The SUPERULTRARARE®’s new studio, the work incorporates Verre Églomisé, brilliant cutting, acid etching, water gilding, and oil gilding – several of which appear on Heritage Crafts’ Red List of endangered crafts. The design was initially conceived collaboratively, though founder Matthew Kenyon ultimately encouraged Walker to take full creative control after responding to his hand-drawn concepts inspired by the studio’s trademarked slogans.

Executed entirely by hand, the panel features intricate, brilliant-cut detailing, enamel inlays, mother-of-pearl accents, and layers of 18ct, 12ct, and 24ct gold, evoking the aesthetics of 1990s gaming graphics through the lens of Victorian sign-making traditions.

Photography by David Fulford