ABSTRACT
There's the Bird That Never Flew' intervenes in Glasgow's civic history, recasting a heritage marked with the signatures of imperial power. The Doulton Fountain thus functions for the viewer as a window onto the colonial margins that also generates a perspective on the imperial centre. Contemporary official reports of the Empire Exhibition emphasise the grandiosity and regal appeal of the event and its custom-built premises. Queen Victoria arrived 'through applauding crowds and streets gay with flags' as this unrestrained celebration of burgeoning Victorian commodity culture met with royal approval. Elliot's Popular Guide for visitors to the Exhibition offers, among its practical information, a plethora of lavish advertisements for commodities, services and amenities. The continuity of the Glasgow Exhibition with other such events is clearly indicated by Pen and Pencil's use of the Poet Laureate Tennyson's 'Ode Sung at the Opening of the International Exhibition', written in praise of the 1862 London occasion.
