CAN you help put names to the faces in these portraits?
Despite massive interest in a recent appeal to uncover the identities of 27 people who appear in portraits found in a north Belfast residential home, questions remain about the majority of the paintings.
Staff at Clifton House uncovered the portraits of the former residents while archiving historical documents.
While the Belfast Charitable Society, owners of the former home, said they have been "overwhelmed" by the interest of their appeal, 22 of the paintings remain unclaimed.
The identity of seven portraits are still a complete mystery.
Painted by artist Thomas Everard Spence, a former president of the Belfast Charitable Society, they date back to between 1940 and 1980 and were all painted at the home on North Queen Street.
While there was success in re-uniting five portraits with relatives, including a family who travelled from Canada to collect the paintings of their loved ones, the search goes on for those who may know the remaining residents.
Archivist Louise Canavan said they still "very keen to reunite as many as possible with their families" and as a result have "dedicated more time to researching the portraits to get some more names and if possible stories behind the faces".
"The society's archive is extensive so it was good to be able to narrow the search down to the period that the artist, T.E Spence, had been involved here - between 1940 and the 1980s," she said.
"When I looked into those records in more detail, I found 15 of the 22 names of the remaining portraits, including some more unusual surnames such as Welshman, Muirhead and Cassells.
"The records also provided some further stories about the residents such as that of Thomas Hutchinson, recently reunited with his Canadian family, and his friend Nancy Houston.
"Nancy also turned 100 while living in Clifton House. T.E Spence painted her portrait and it was displayed in the Municipal Art Gallery. We know she was taken out to see it."
The society, which carries out tours of Clifton House every Friday, has appealed to people to get in touch and said staff can try to source details on any of its residents who may have lived there.
For further information please call 028 90997022 or email info@cliftonbelfast.org.uk
