Muriel Belcher

Muriel Belcher (Edgbaston, 1908–1979) was the founder and proprietress of a private drinking club known as The Colony Room (also known as Muriel's) at 41 Dean Street, Soho, London.

Belcher is the subject of several paintings, including Seated Woman (Portrait of Muriel Belcher) by Francis Bacon, which was sold at Sotheby's in Paris in December 2007 for €13.7 million.

Belcher had previously run a club called the Music-box in Leicester Square during World War II. She managed to secure a 3pm-to-11pm drinking licence for the Colony Room bar as a private members' club, whereas public houses had to close at 2:30pm. Francis Bacon was a founding member, walking in the day after it opened in 1948. He was "adopted" by Belcher as a "daughter" and allowed free drinks and £10 a week to bring in friends and rich patrons.

The club had a certain notoriety for its decor as well as its clientele; its bilious green walls were as famous as the club itself. In addition to its vile colour, the staircase that led to the establishment was described as foul-smelling and flanked by dustbins. The Room was operated by Belcher between opening and her death in 1979.

The Museum of London website says of the Colony Room, "The Colony Room was one of many drinking clubs in Soho. The autocratic and temperamental owner Muriel Belcher created an ambiance which suited those who thought of themselves as misfits or outsiders." One former customer remembered her as a "handsome, Jewish dyke"; another, George Melly, said of her, "Muriel was a benevolent witch, who managed to draw in all London's talent up those filthy stairs. She was like a great cook, working with the ingredients of people and drink. And she loved money."

Her sexuality attracted many gay men to the club, many of them brought to the club by her Jamaican girlfriend, Carmel. She had a knack for attracting or discovering interesting and colourful people, and the patronage of men like Melly and Bacon helped to establish the Colony Room's close-knit community. Lady Rose McLaren, one of Bacon's friends, was a habituée of the club in her London days. In line with the camp atmosphere of the club, men would often be referred to in the feminine. Melly once remarked, "Muriel made everything sound good, even when it wasn't exactly a Wildean epigram. She was camp, and the very delivery of camp makes your sentences sound witty."

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