This plaque was presented to Duke Ellington by DownBeat magazine in 1966. It is a rectangular shaped wooden plaque with a cast metal musical note and an engraved metal plate. The musical note is cast:
1966 DOWN BEAT AWARD
(and the metal plate is engraved):
DUKE ELLINGTON COMPOSER FIRST PLACE
American music magazine, DownBeat, was established in 1934 in Chicago, Illinois. The publication is devoted to “jazz, blues and beyond.” DownBeat magazine publishes annual surveys of both its readers and critics in a variety of categories and presents awards to its winners.