Look up Glasgow!
Colin Begg
Never mind the rest of Northern Europe, there is nothing like you in all the world. Your ships plied queer coasts just to check and reported safe to your quaysides.
Look up Glasgow!
loftier are your caryatids, your atlantes than the window cranes of Amsterdam, the lead-strafed lintels of Berlin, the sleepy dormers of Paris, the Hanseatic gables.
Look up Glasgow! your merchants have done their pillaging on fair winds (but not fair trade) and bought your gilded ships and rooftop globes. Look up Glasgow! be glad that the grabbing is over and the slaves are freed. But, architects of Glasgow to what honour would you sculpt today? Look up Glasgow! call centres, retail parks, giant horses, are such feeble phoenixes.
With what phatic exaltations shall we chisel our city centre now to feed the algae of tomorrow? Corinthian 191 Ingram Street
Allegorical Statues, Narrative Tympana and Associated Decorative Carving
Sculptor: James Salmon Senior and John Burnet (1841-3, 1853-4, 1876-9)
The Corinthian building has a rich history, having been used as a bank, a high court, and currently houses a bar and restaurant. Allegorical female figures on the facade represent various high ideals, including Navigation and Commerce, Britannia, Wealth and Glasgow. The rear of the building also includes a lavish decorative programme.
Map Of Glasgow City Photo Gallery
Former City and County Buildings 40-50 Wilson Street
‘Trial by Jury ’ Narrative Frieze
Sculptor: Walter Buchan (1842-4)
A Greek Revival construction that dates from 1842, this building was intended to bring together a number of council and law enforcement institutions, explaining the dramatic depiction of a man in chains, a murder victim, a mourning woman and various court officials.
Former Offices Of The Glasgow Gas Light Company 42 Virginia Street
Architects: R. G. Melvin and W. Leiper
Originally built in 1867-70 as a warehouse for the Glasgow Gas Light Company, a pair of crowned male heads with excellent moustaches peer down over the entrance of this listed building.
Former Trustee Savings Bank 177 Ingram Street
St Mungo, Atlantes, Allegorical Figures and Related Decorative Carving
Sculptors: George Frampton (modeler) and William Shirreffs (carver) (1894-9) This striking building, formerly a savings bank but now used by the Jigsaw chain is an interpretation of the Roman Baroque style and features a pair of Atlantes one sporting a fetching moustache worthy of Movember. Additional features are a coat of arms bearing the city’s motto, ‘Let Glasgow Flourish’, below a majestic statue of St Mungo.
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