Merchants' House, at the corner of West George Street and George Square, pictured in 1982 for Glasgow City Council's newspaper The Bulletin.
Designed by John Burnet, the building opened in 1874 as the home of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce. It contains the fine Merchants' Hall, embellished with stained-glass windows and many portraits. The two storeys added in 1907-1909 by J J Burnet are topped by a domed tower on which is perched a ship on a globe, a reminder of the importance of sea trade to Glasgow's prosperity.
Glasgow's Merchants' House was formed as a result of a Letter of Guildry in 1605, which regulated both the city's craftsmen (in the form of the Trades' House), and its merchants (in the form of Merchants' House). The original Merchants' Hall was erected in Bridgegate in 1659 and demolished c 1818 leaving only the steeple.
Reference: Bulletin photographs, Box 10, September 1982
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, globes, guilds, Letter of Guildry, merchants, Merchants' Hall, Merchants' House, ship models, stained glass windows
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