Details

Object type

panel mural; painting

Title

Weavers Struggles ...The Calton Weavers Massacre

Artist/Maker

Ken Currie artist

Place Associated

Scotland, Glasgow, Calton (place associated)

Date

1987

Materials

oil on canvas

Dimensions

overall: 2180 mm x 2510 mm

Description

This Glasgow History Cycle panel depicts the aftermath of the Calton Weavers massacre on 3 September 1787 when the local military fired on a demonstration of striking weavers. In the centre the weavers attend to the dead and wounded as the soldiers march away to the right. One of the injured weavers clutches a pamphlet, which contains the text from a placard from the later 1792 riots. Above their heads is a banner ‘Weave Truth With Trust’, the motto of the weaving craft for many centuries. The scene is illuminated in the background by burning looms and webs, essential for handloom weaving. The bottle kilns along the skyline represent the recent and coming industrialisation of the area. The mural was commissioned for the People’s Palace dome to mark the bicentenary of the massacre of the Calton Weavers in 1987..

Credit Line/Donor

Commissioned by Glasgow Museums with support of the Tommy Chambers Bequest, 1986

ID Number

PP.1987.203.1

Location

In storage