Page_BN_20080929Keoghs275thAnniv

A NEW VISION OF ‘LADY JUSTICE’ ARRIVES IN ALTRINCHAM

Two members of Bowdon Croquet Club joined forces to celebrate a rare anniversary for a 275 year-old Altrincham law firm. Liz Taylor-Webb was commissioned to produce a commemorative painting by her friend Michael Sandler – senior partner at Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris. The finished 18” x 24” acrylic work is her own interpretation of the ancient Roman goddess of justice whose statue stands above the Old Bailey in London.
Keoghs and Nicholls, Lindsell and Harris was founded in 1733 - when little more than 900 people lived in a town of fewer than 200 ‘wattle and daub’ houses and Dick Turpin still had a notorious career in highway robbery. The firm’s 275^th anniversary is believed to rank it as the 25^th oldest law practice in the country and a series of celebrations in the former Altrincham Town Hall brought celebrations to a head on 29^th September. A centrepiece, throughout, was Liz’s new painting of Justicia who, for centuries, has traditionally brandished a doubled-edged sword and carried her scales around the world - from the USA and Brazil to Australia, Hong Kong … and now Altrincham. The new characteristically whimsical version illustrates Michael Sandler’s favourite pun – that “lawyers’ houses are built on other men’s follies".
“I got to know Liz through our membership of Bowdon Croquet Club and I have always admired her work,” says Michael, “so our 275^th anniversary gave me a perfect opportunity to commission my very own painting." Liz Taylor-Webb studied at Rochdale College of Art and with her mentor L.S. Lowry who helped launch her professional career. Her work now hangs in public and private collections in this country and overseas and has been exhibited throughout the UK, in London and Paris.

“So many cultures have their own vision of Lady Justice,” she says. “She is everywhere – from a hospital complex in the Czech Republic to 16^th century clock in Paris and even naked with wings in Mexico. To have the opportunity to add my own version has been great fun.”