A STATUE of Charles Rennie Mackintosh has been adorned with a traffic cone in true Glasgow tradition.
It’s taken pranksters just ten days to add the extra accessory to the recently erected statute, located at the corner of Elliot Street and St Vincent Street in Finnieston.
Usually the traffic cone treatment is reserved for the now famous Duke of Wellington statue in the city centre, but it seems the Mackintosh sculpture has now been given the same dubious honour.
The new statue was officially unveiled by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on December 10, the 90th anniversary of the famous designer’s death.
It shows Mackintosh perched on one of the chairs he designed for the city’s Argyle Street Tea Rooms.
The Glasgow tradition of giving the Duke of Wellington statue a traffic cone as a hat is thought to date back to the 1980s.
There were plans to increase the height of the plinth back in 2013 to deter people from climbing up, but widespread public opposition, including a Facebook campaign and petition, forced plans to be withdrawn.
The statue was named in Lonely Planet’s guide to the top ten most bizarre monuments on Earth in 2011.
Their listing says: “Usually the horseback statue of the Duke of Wellington outside is cheekily crowned with a traffic cone; the authorities grumble, but it keeps happening and is now an icon.”
The cone-adorned statue featured in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, as well as the film Trainspotting 2.
The council had to intervene during the summer when an incredible ten cones were perched precariously atop the Duke’s head.
A council spokesman said: “We absolutely understand that the cone on top of the duke’s head is a much loved Glasgow icon.
“But the precarious nature of the cones on the statue was creating a risk to passers-by and so the cones were removed.
“Anyone climbing on the statue is putting themselves and others at risk of harm.”
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