Rare statues of women as figureheads of industry to go on display after rescue
Rare statues depicting women as figureheads during the industrial revolution will go on public display after they were rescued from a dumping ground.
Dating back to the 1880s, the Springburn Maidens formed the front centrepiece of Springburn Halls in 1902.
Experts said the statues are a rare depiction of the role women played in post-industrial Scotland.
Women and girls formed a much higher proportion of the workforce than elsewhere in Britain and were the majority of workers in some industries.
One of the female figures holds a locomotive, in reference to Springburn's role as a key player in rail manufacturing, while the other holds tools.
Conservationists said the sculptures were of great significance given statues of women outside civic buildings were always naked or portrayed as 'frolicking goddesses'.
The B-listed halls survived until the 1960s when they were converted into a sports centre.
In 2012 they were demolished due to fears of collapse despite a campaign to save them, as they were considered one of the most historically significant buildings in Glasgow's north.
The two statues were dismantled after the demolition but were left to decay, with their whereabouts mostly unknown for ten years.
They were later discovered next to an industrial unit owned by Ng Homes, the social landlord that acquired
the site for a £7.2 million flat development.
Exhibition curator Thomas Abercromby said the historical structures were not properly preserved by the local authority and later found at a dumping ground.
Mr Abercromby said: "Glasgow City Council did what it has always done and came along and demolished them.
"They were successful in getting
the statues ripped out but no-one wanted to claim ownership of them so they ended up in a storage unit.
"They are not preserved, it's not a proper place for this type of material.
"They have basically been left outside, where you find old cookers and burst couches – basically a dumping ground.
"Organisations like Glasgow Life, who are meant to colsamefateasstatuesfromtownhead
lect items like this, refused to collect it.
"They are important, not just in terms of local history but the history of Scotland.
"I've been working in this community, where I'm also from, for a long time and whenever we talk about art and culture we always revert to this very patriarchal industrial heritage.
"We never talk about the
labour of women from a current point and also a historic point.
"We felt that these statues are a symbol of how that labour is not recognised. It's not valued.”
When the halls were being demolished, a local historian, Gary Nisbet, called for the statues to be put on public display.
Hewasconcernedtheymight neverbeseenagainorsufferthe
Public Library, which weresoldtoanamericanwhen it was demolished.
The statues are in six pieces, each framed as an individual sculpture within the exhibition, which is being held as part of the Glasgow International contemporary art festival.