#MomentsofBeauty in #Glasgow: So, I’m out on my morning perambulation around the #Southside and I bump into this pretty lady with her jaunty hat...! But who is she? What building is she on and what’s the backstory...? Questions, questions – this demands a thread...! 1/7

To answer this, we must head to House of Frasers at the corner of Argyle & Buchanan Streets, because that was originally Stewart and McDonald’s Warehouse which specialised in wholesale clothing and had branches in Dublin, Toronto, Sydney and Port Elizabeth...! 2/7

This huge warehouse, then largest in the U.K., was designed by Horatio Bromhead and dates from 1903. These two granite Atlantes (carved by William Vickers) marked its entrance on Argyle Street and they were affectionately known to Glaswegians as ‘Stewart’ and ‘McDonald’ ! 3/7

So, what’s this to do with this fashionably attired lady on the Southside? Well, reputedly the lady in question is Mrs Fanny Stewart for it is she who adorns a mansion built in 1862 by her husband merchant Alexander Bannatyne Stewart of Stewart and McDonald fame. 4/7

The mansion, Rawcliffe Lodge, was designed (and extended in 1874) by the very capable John Burnet Senior, the architect responsible for @ArlingtonBaths the Glasgow Stock Exchange and the Clydesdale Bank which explains its superb intricate detailing and ornament! 5/7

Stewart, was President of the Royal Fine Art Institute of Glasgow so his picture gallery was one of the largest in Scotland. The connection probably explains why Burnet’s son Sir JJ Burnet won the competition for the @RGIArt’s astonishing Sauchiehall Street HQ in 1878 ! 6/7

The mansion was taken over by the Order of Carmelite Nuns in 1918 before being converted into flats in 2012. From certain points you can see through it so can appreciate the stained glass by W & J.J Kier which is documented on @rdwglass’s website: http://rdwglass.com/glasgowstainedglassrepair.html 7/7