This postcard reproduces a painting by Sam Bough of Glasgow Bridge in 1850, seen from the south. A cargo of timber is being unloaded in the foreground, no doubt to be used in the construction industry at a time when Glasgow was expanding rapidly.
The Glasgow Bridge, designed by Thomas Telford, was opened in 1836 as a replacement for an earlier bridge on the same site. Also known as Broomielaw Bridge or Telford's Bridge, it consisted of seven arches built on piled foundations. The bridge had to carry a considerable amount of traffic across the River Clyde.
Sam Bough was a native of Carlisle who moved to Glasgow in 1848, becoming one of the leading Victorian landscape painters in Scotland. He often painted scenery backdrops for productions in Glasgow theatres.
Reference: Mitchell Library GC Postcards
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
arches, artists, bridges, Broomielaw Bridge, Glasgow Bridge, landscape painters, postcards, River Clyde, sailing ships, scenery painters, Telford's Bridge, theatres, timber
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