| The painting reproduced here is
actually three quarter life-size and shows Williamson posing formally (is that
a tunnel in the background on the right?). This painting was given by
Williamson to his godson, whose daughter, in turn, gave it to the Liverpool
Museum. It is now in the possession of the Walker Art Gallery. On the back of
the portrait Williamson has written in his own handwriting that the portrait is
'a good likeness of me when I was half-seas over'. The Collins English
Dictionary defines 'half-seas over' as a colloquialism for 'drunk'. This would
have been a strange comment and we wonder if the expression had a different
meaning in those days - perhaps something to do with half a century as the
portrait was reputedly painted for his fiftieth birthday. |
