Edinburgh Jenners columns (#1149)

The main reason for visiting Jenners – that Charles Jenner (the founder) dictated in his will (in 1893) that the building’s caryatids - sculpted female figures taking the place of supporting columns or pillars - to ‘show symbolically that women are the support of the house’.

I’ve not seen any feminist analysis of this design, but considering the time it would seem to have been quite a progressive stand to so explicitly recognize the role of women in the economy, even it was based on a fashion assumption. (Women in Scotland got the right to vote for members of Parliament in 1918.)

Quote from:
www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/scottish-fact-of-the-day-jenners-department-store-1-3615754

(Part of a documentation of 2018 exploration/reflection on Brexit and populist movements in Europe, keyword Europe2018)