Mercantile Chambers, Glasgow

Another fine building for those among you, who collect photos of architectural gems, is the Mercantile Chambers on Bothwell Street.

This huge building of sandstone was constructed in 1897 in the Art Nouveau style, with many windows and nine bays of arcades on the ground floor. The arches are supported by thick columns with sculptured imposts. Once the centre of the cities merchants, the ground floor now houses shops, while the five other storeys are used as office space.

The building boasts many statues and sculptures on its façade. The four female sculptures represent Fortune, Industry, Prosperity and Prudence. Standing out over the main entrance is a small semi-circular, shrine-like construction supported on brackets depicting cherubim. Seated inside the shrine is the statue of Mercury, the Roman god of trade and commercial success.

The building was designed by James Salmon Junior and was his first commission. He is best known for “The Hatrack Tower” a 1902 Art Nouveau building that features a lot of glass – an innovation for the time.

The sculpture-work on the Mercantile Chambers is by Francis Wood, who was renowned for his architectural and free standing sculptures. During the First World War Wood worked in the Masks for Facial Disfigurement Department of London’s Third General Hospital. He was one of the first sculptors to make thin metal masks for soldiers wounded on the battlefield.