Salford artist uses bottle of champagne to create Jubilee artwork – and hopes for royal approval

A Salford mosaic artist has used gold glass, 24k gold coins, gemstones, diamond dust – and a chopped bottle of champagne to create a work of art worthy of a queen. The piece took a year from time to time to complete.

David Arnott, 35, used 43 gemstones including sapphires, amethysts, rubies and aquamarines to complete his latest work for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. To top it off, the artist, best known for his iconic pieces depicting celebrity culture, learned that his 3ft x 3ft mosaic of St Edward’s Crown – the crown worn by the Queen during her coronation in 1953, can even be seen by the Queen. se.

The expensively jeweled mosaic was painstakingly created using a host of materials and David, who has a four-year-old daughter, even cut a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne for the green elements in his design. Well known for the hours of research he put into his art before beginning the meticulous task of cutting and fitting the thousands of small parts, David wrote to the royal household for information on St Edward’s crown. .

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“They’ve been incredibly helpful,” David said. “I didn’t even expect an answer, but they pointed me in the right direction to get all the information I needed to produce something very different. I hadn’t realized how interesting the story was behind that crown.

“I’m crossing my fingers that the finished piece will be fit for the queen. The finished piece took a long time,” David said. “But even though it was probably my most difficult piece to date, it was very enjoyable to do, and the process even increased my admiration for the Queen.”

“I was asked if I wanted to send a picture to the Queen herself, which I did and hope she could respond. Knowing that the Queen had seen this would mean everything, it would be amazing – I mean, she’s the queen isn’t she?”

The piece was created for Clarendon Fine Art, the largest gallery chain in the UK, which sells artwork by Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, as well as many other iconic David mosaics. David received adhesives, grouts and sealants from the aptly named ‘Palace’ Chemicals of Liverpool.

Charles Clapham, Managing Director of Palace Chemicals, said: “We are extremely proud to play a part in bringing David’s masterpieces to life. Learning that her Jubilee Crown mosaic could even be seen by the Queen herself is really the icing on the cake. What a very special way to mark a very special occasion.”