One of the most beloved events in sports is the annual tennis championships held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, England. The ladies’ singles champion is presented with an ornate salver known as the Rosewater Dish.
Tennis, Anyone? Wimbledon’s Rosewater Dish
(Originally printed in the July/August 2023 issue of Insights.)
One of the most beloved events in sports is the annual tennis championships held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, England. The ladies’ singles champion is presented with an ornate salver known as the Rosewater Dish.
The Venus Rosewater Dish (above) (2006)
The sterling silver and gilt salver, which measures 18.75" in diameter, was crafted by Elkington and Company of Birmingham in 1864 based off a copy of an older basin in the Louvre Museum (which itself was a copy of a 16th Century pewter basin). The company was known as the “best quality silversmith in Birmingham.” For the Rosewater Dish, Elkington used a then-new process of electroforming, which uses electric currents to adhere silver to a mold. The piece was then gilded in part with gold, framing high-relief mythological figures.
Since its purchase by the All England Club in 1886, the names of the champions have been engraved on the dish every year. In 2016, a sterling silver-wrapped plinth was created to accommodate the overflow. Like the other trophies awarded at Wimbledon, the originals remain in the custody of the club’s museum. Beginning in 1949, the champions received half-sized replicas. Since 2007, larger three-quarters-sized, hand-crafted replicas come engraved with the names of all previous winners.
Top Winners of the Open Era
The Rosewater Dish was held aloft multiple times by some of the greatest women in sports.
- Martina Navratilova (9)
- Steffi Graf (7)
- Serena Williams (7)
- Venus Williams (5)
- Billie Jean King (4, plus two wins in the amateur era)