lamps. This exaggerated scheme of colour runs
through nearly the whole building, and the dis-
tressing effect is largely increased by everything
being ' picked out ' to the last degree, so that Kiosks
and gables and towers, which once looked beautiful
by reason of their graceful outlines and play of
light and shade, are now commonplace and tawdry.
By way of contrast with all this, note the charming-
effect of the main vestibule, where the tones, though
warm and briglit, are tones and not crudities, and
where the medium used gives a pleasant play of
reflected light, instead of the uniform flatness
characteristic of the rest of the painting.
In conclusion, it may be said that the excellences
of this design are many and evident : he who runs
may read them not only in the building itself, but
in the many descriptions of it in the press ; but it
may be a good thing for architects and the public
to recognise that we have not yet reached perfection.
AxDEEw Hat.i,.
Mr. JAMES SELLARS, Architect. —In the record of modern architectural design Glasgow has held a prominent posi- tion for the quality of work executed there and the ability of her architects. Amongst the latter we could hardly name a better representative than the designer of the Glasgow International E.xhibition Buildings. Mr. Sellars was born at Glasgow. He entered the office of Mr. Hugh Barclay, Glasgow, about thirty years ago, and there served his apprenticeship. Early in his ex- perience he became known to the public by the selection of his design for the Stewart Memorial Fountain, out of over fifty others from all parts of the country. This work, which commemorates the introduction of Loch Katrine water to the city, stands in the Kelvingrove Park, near the present International Exhibition, and has been illustrated in the Britisli Architect. It is a clever Gothic design of good outline and proportion, exhibiting much thought and careful effort. About this time Mr. Sellars entered the office of Mr. Campbell Douglas, and subsequently became his partner. In conjunction with Mr. Douglas he has carried out a number of important works, which have given the firm a leading provincial reputation, not confined to one special branch of practice, but including public and domestic, commercial and ecclesiastical buildings. We have not been slow to point out examples of modern skill which, to our thinking, xdac?At. progressive quality in architectural art, for in the leading these may give to contemporary students we must look for hopes of better things. In England we have every day practice of a high order in Chester, Liverpool, and Manchester, which places provincial work on a level with the very best which can be found in the metropolis, and in Glasgow and Edinburgh the best work is of an equally encouraging sort for the future de- velopment of architecture. In this development Mr. James Sellars has made a distinct and valuable record. — British Architect,
NOTES ON ARCHITECTURE.
The New S. S. C. Library. — 'Notwithstanding the reports and information received from professional gentlemen consulted, the Council of the Edinburgh S.S.C. Society have unanimously resolved that in their opinion the plan bearing the motto " Wisdom, Health, and Beauty " is entitled to the first place in the competition, and that the plans bearing the mottoes "Scottish Seventeenth Century " and "S.S.C." are entitled, the former to the first, and the latter to the second premium. The author of the plan "Wisdom, Health, and Beauty" is Mr. James B. Dunn. The second design is by Messrs. M'Arthy & Watson, and the third is by Mr. G. Washington Browne.' The fore- going is the account given in the newspapers, with a trifling alteration of our own (italicised) which makes the facts of the case a little clearer. The interest in architecture would appear to be growing-^at an alarming rate — when learned gentlemen of the law thus sit in judgment on the merits of art designs. The criticism which these learned gentlemen thus pass upon themselves, especially when they make awards counter to the awards of professional experts on art, is the aspect of the affair which people will notice, a legal dictum on an art question being a matter of no consequence. Want of space compels us to hold over, till next month, an article dealing with the whole subject. BiGGAR Parish Kirk. — Scottish art lovers and antiquarians have reason to be thankful for the recent decision of Lord Eraser in the Court of Session granting perpetual interdict against a pro- posed extension of Biggar Parish Kirk. The collegiate Church of Saint Mary was founded in I545i though parts of the structure are said to date from as far back as 1164. Spared by the Reformers, it was attacked by Vandals of later times in 1795 and 1S34, and has lost a west porch, sacristy, and lych gate, as well as the gilt oak chancel roof and organ loft. It still retains, however, its original cruciform disposition, with low central tower and belfry turret, crow-stepped western gable and embattled choir with trigonal apse. Scarce indeed in Scotland are such architectural relics, but this did not hinder a doubtless well-meaning minister and kirk-session, under the direction of a 'local architect,' from proposing to knock down the greater part of the north wall of the nave and the west side of the north transept in order to secure additional sittings. The opposition of Mr, Ralston of Loaning- dale and a minority of the heritors having proved ineffectual, recourse was had to the law-courts, and with success. It is true that Mr. Ralston, the champion of antiquarianism, was himself at first prepared with a rival set of plans, and that the decision of the Court seems to have been given solely on the ground of possible danger to the stability of the church, and not because of the intended barbarous interference with an ancient monument. But perhaps, after all, this latter circumstance is not an unmixed evil. The bare imagination of the ' legal mind ' setting itself to form an artistic judgment, is enough to make one shudder. It is not from Parliament or Law Court, but at the hands of artists themselves, that the future will require an account of those artistic relics which we are happy enough to possess. Glasgow : The Panorama of Bannockburn. — For the credit of Glasgow it is satisfactory that the piece of ground, in Sauchiehall Street, to the west of the Corporation Buildings, has been reclaimed from the chaotic and unsightly condition in which it had been standing for so many years. The building which now occupies the site is pleasing, both in form and colour. The colour, of rich red, is refreshing to the Scotch eye, too much accustomed to blues and greys. The style of the architecture is of the Renaissance, and the detail is as refined as the work always is which is designed by Dr. Rowand Anderson. Taken as a whole, the ten arcades, with their balustrade coping, and the large Pano- rama building proper rising behind, form a most interesting group. We only wish ourselves more often privileged to see such an honest treatment of a public building destined for a peculiar use.
