The Drawing Room, 90 Chatham Street

From the 1850s onwards 90 Chatham Street, Liverpool, belonged to the Melly family, well known Liverpool merchants. Its Victorian interior survived almost unaltered until the last occupant died in 1944. Some of the drawing room furniture was then presented to the Walker Art Gallery while most of the other contents were sold, the house itself was taken over by the University. This Watercolour was painted just before the sale and shows the artist's enthusiasm - unusual in the 1940s - for the elaborate and exuberance of Victorian interior design. It illustrates a style of furnishing which would have been typical of prosperous middle class homes in late 19th-century Liverpool.