Men and Women Who Compete at Wimbledon Are Rewarded With Vastly Different Trophies

When the female winners at Wimbledon leave, they take a different award home than the men's gold trophy. Instead of getting their hands on a similar shiny gold cup that the male tennis stars walk away with each year, the ladies get plates. Yes, that's right, plates. OK, the plate is a lot more involved than the ceramic plates you eat dinner on. But the differences between the women's and men's trophies at Wimbledon are hard to ignore.

It's all part of tradition, apparently. Eleanor Thomas, the Collections Manager at the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, told ABC News that the women's prizes have always been something special, with early iterations being bracelets and flowers, among other prizes. In 1886, the Venus Rosewater Dish came to be the women's official prize or "trophy" at Wimbledon.

Eleanor told ABC News that when the Venus Rosewater Dish was introduced for female winners, it was done so as a way to signify "a symbol of achievement in its own right." Per The Sun, there is speculation that women get a different Wimbledon trophy in the form of a dish because of gender roles and women traditionally being linked to household duties.

According to Eleanor via ABC News, though, the reason behind the different trophies is different. She shared with the outlet that the Venus Rosewater Dish goes hand in hand with a tradition of awarding women with more ornate prizes rather than the standard gold trophy that men receive when they win at Wimbledon.

Although the trophies are different, the men and women winners share one thing. None of them get to actually take home these trophies, which are engraved with the names of past winners each year. Per Express, the winners get to hold the trophies for a short time. Then, they are given scaled-down versions to take home and keep as symbols of their wins.

Although the Venus Rosewater Dish is clearly different from a standard trophy that sports champions win, it is full of intricate carvings, and it's pretty large, too. According to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Venus Rosewater Dish is a replica of another decorative dish called the Temperance Basin. Like the Venus Rosewater Dish, it draws on inspiration for its carvings from the Renaissance.

The Venus Rosewater Dish features a woman at its center. She is surrounded by the elements. On the outer part of the dish, there are symbols that signify the arts, like grammar, music, and logic, among others. Over the years since it was originally made, it has been passed down, much like the men's trophy. Now, it's a celebrated tradition.