These lavishly-decorated theatre boxes once formed part of the auditorium of the Glasgow Palace Theatre of Varieties, between 1903 and 1977, before the building was demolished. These are two of the twelve boxes, on two levels that formed part of the largest theatre in Scotland. The sumptuous adornment was designed by Bertie Crewe, a pupil of Frank Matcham, the famous late 19th century theatrical architect.

When it opened, the Palace was the largest auditorium in Glasgow, and featured variety artists such as Fred Barnes, Marie Kendall and Harry Houdini, before the programme moved towards staging wrestling bouts and talking pictures. Variety performances ended after World War II, leading the theatre to become a picture house, before turning into a bingo hall in the 1960s. In October 1977 it was closed for the last time, after being declared structurally dangerous.

Crewe’s inspiration for the interiors came from the British Raj. The opening review, printed in the Glasgow Herald, 15 March 1904, described the design as “… pure Indian, a special feature being the box arcades supported by beautifully modelled Nautch girls considerably over life size, and over them are gorgeous Hindu pagodas, from which springs the elaborate dome and painted ceiling”.