This Is My GlasgowMar 17, 2023

This is the Ruthven Lane Cat in the west end of Glasgow, and its a bit of a mystery. It's high on a wall on the back of an old tenement building, and it really doesn't look like it belongs there. Cont./

#glasgow #ruthvenlane #ruthvenlanecat #glasgowwestend #glasgowbuildings #animalsinarchitecture #cats #sculptures #mysterycat

Show threadThis Is My GlasgowMar 17, 2023
Some people think it's related to the Puma on Glasgow's Victoria Infirmary (middle of the second picture), but on closer examination it doesn't really resemble it. There's also used to be a Puma on the nearby Western Infirmary (now in storage), suggesting a medical link of some kind, but it's not clear what this would be. Cont./
Show threadAKMAMar 17, 2023

@thisismyglasgow

The puma seems to have been an emblem of the Victoria; are there any medical connections with the Ruthven Lane building? (Evidently too remote from the Western…)

Show threadThis Is My GlasgowMar 17, 2023
@AKMA Not that I know of. Also, I can't work out if the Puma sculpture was put on Victoria Infirmary because of an existing association with medicine, or if Puma became an emblem of the Victoria Infirmary because of the sculpture. There seems no obvious reasons that Pumas (a large New World big cat) would be linked to medicine, and I have wondered if the Victoria Infirmary sculpture is actually a lionness (as a symbol of Queen Victoria) rather than a Puma.
Show threadAKMAMar 17, 2023

@thisismyglasgow

It’s all complicated by the fluidity of the big cats in emblems of various sorts, and the question of how much a sculptor or designer actually knew about the conventions of representation and symbolism.

Show threadThis Is My Glasgow
@AKMA That's all very true. It's like the Tigress with cubs statue in Kelvingrove Park, which is clearly a Lionness!
Mar 17, 2023 at 2:21pmWeb