I am sure you will be familiar with the ‘half-seas over’ Portrait of Joseph Williamson. The painting held in Liverpool’s Walker Art gallery, is of Joseph Williamson at the age of 50. On the back of the painting, written in Joseph’s own hand writing, is ‘a good likeness of me when I was half-seas over’. The phrase, ‘half-seas over’ is believed to mean ‘drunk’. So, this known portrait of Joseph Williamson should be a good reference of his appearance.
Joseph Williamson had a business partner, a Mr. Joseph Leigh, who lived in Belmont Hall in Cheshire. The descendant of Joseph Leigh, Mr. Richard Mosley Leigh, still lives on the Belmont Hall estate today, though Belmont Hall itself is now a school.
Belmont Hall, Cheshire. Home of the Leigh family.
The mysterious painting, hanging in the entrance hall on the right.
We have been delighted to be invited by Mr. Leigh to Belmont Hall on several occasions over the years, to show us around the Hall and to see several beautiful historic ledgers, some of which, show the dealings and transactions made by Joseph Williamson and Joseph Leigh. Also, throughout the Hall are paintings that have been in the family for many years.
One of these paintings can be seen on entering the grand entrance hallway of Belmont Hall, where there are two paintings. The painting important to us, is on the right of the photograph above. Richard Leigh tells us that there is no record of who the painting is of, however It has always been thought to be of a young Joseph Williamson.
The ‘half-seas over’ portrait of Joseph Williamson aged 50, held in the Walker Art Gallery (Access courtesy Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool. Photo copyright FoWT)
The mysterious, unknown portrait hanging in Belmont Hall, is thought to be a young Joseph Williamson by the Leigh family.
This comparison image, allows you to swich quickly left and right to reveal close-up’s of the faces of Joseph at 50 years old on the Left, and the suspected younger Joseph from the mysterious portrait on the Right.
What do you think? Do you agree that this unknown portrait could be a young Joseph Williamson? Leave us a Reply with your thoughts on what you think…
An example of the Joseph Leigh ledgers, showing examples of Leigh/Williamson business dealings.
Thank you for this interesting information. From studying the two photographs I think the photograph could very well be a young Joseph.
The proportions of the faces, bone structures, especially the eyes & eyebrows, are very similar. If not the same person, a doppelganger!
In the left side painting of 50-year-old Joseph there is what may be a scar in his left eyebrow on the end nearest the nose. In the right-side painting, there is a lighter line in the same eyebrow in the same general location, although it is not as easy to see, as the painting condition is timeworn and the brow may have been intended to be in shadow.