Glasgow’s Gilded Age (1864-1914): Glamour & Grit
The Glasgow’s Gilded Age (1864 -1914): Glamour & Grit conference was held on the 8th May 2015 at Cottiers Theatre in Glasgow’s West End. The conference was an exciting introduction to the period, the academics who study it, and the legacy it has left behind. The conference was far more than a one day event; it signified the beginning of what we hope will be a new movement celebrating this period of Glasgow’s history, and promoting Glasgow’s industrial and artistic heritage, for without one there could not be the other, the glamour and the grit. Between 1864 and 1914 Glasgow was a thriving centre for design and innovation in industries as varied as textile manufacture and shipbuilding. The techniques and skills learnt by the workers and designers in these industries directly affected the art produced in the city. The individuals who gained financially from this boom, the shipping magnates and ironworks owners, were able to spend lavishly on buildings, art, and furnishing their homes, advertising not only their personal wealth and style, but also Glasgow’s. This led to Glasgow becoming a producer and educator of all things aesthetically pleasing and functional.

This project aims to create long-term beneficial partnerships within educational and heritage institutions who will encourage crucial research related to topics like those discussed today. We already have the support of our speakers; from the Glasgow School of Art, the National Trust of Scotland, and even from further afield, the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. We want to promote Glasgow as a centre for cultural tourism, highlighting what the city already has to offer visitors and locals alike. We aim to re-evaluate Glasgow’s design history, and elevate the status of the movers and shakers who helped to propel Glasgow to the its place as the second city of the empire.