Royal Bank of Scotland 22-4 St. Enoch Square
Symbolic Figures and Associated Decorative Carving
Sculptor: Phyllis Archibald and Richard Ferris (1906-7)
The four figures function as supporting pillars, and represent the fundamentals of banking Exchange, Security, Prudence, and perhaps worringly, Adventure. Low ceilings mean the figures are far closer to the ground than is normal in Glasgow.
Custom House 298-306 Clyde Street
Royal Arms of Britain
Architect: George Taylor, 1840
An article in the Glasgow Gazette was damning over about the underwhelming nature of this work, and related an anecdote in which someone balanced a tobacco pipe in the little lion’s jaws. The subsequent ridicule caused such embarrassment that a new coat was ordered. It is unclear whether the replacement went ahead.
74 York Street
Map Of Glasgow Central Station Photo Gallery
Lions and other decorative carvings
Architect: Neil Campbell Duff (1901)
Two imposing lions sit to either side of this svelte seven story baroque commercial building. This was one of only two buildings by Duff that had ornate carvings, and he obviously got it all out of his system on this building, which also boasts a statue of St Mungo, several grotesque masks, a heraldic shield, and a bronze, Egyptianstyle female head above its entrance.
Baltic Chambers 40-60 Wellington Street
Ornamental Details
Sculptor: William Vickers (1897-1900)
A nautical theme dominates on this old bank, standing testament to Glasgow’s seafaring links. Built in 1900 from the iconic red sandstone, the sculptures feature ship’s prows and sea monsters.
Clyde port Building 16 Robertson Street
Mythological and Historical Figure Programme
Sculptor: JohnMossman, Albert HemstockHodge (1882-6, 1906-8)
Architect: John James Burnet
A grand personification of Father Clyde sits atop this grandiose homage to Glasgow’s former mercantile supremacy, commissioned by the Clyde Navigation Trust during its height in the nineteenth century. To the left and right of his throne, we see figures representing the two hemispheres bringing their goods to the city. Other mythological statues include Demeter with a bull, whose meaning has puzzled commentators, and Amphitrite, wife of Poseidon and mother of Triton.
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