This portrait of Queen Mary (1867-1953) by Oswald Birley gives a hint of her character: a combination of the formidable and shy. The Queen is seated in a Morel & Seddon armchair made for George IV, holding a fan in her lap. She wears a cloak with a fur collar over a claret-coloured dress, the star of the Garter, diamond earrings, choker and her sautoir (long neck chain), and the Lover’s Knot Brooch. The artist was at Windsor in April 1934, when he painted this portrait and one of King George V (RCIN 403408). The Queen recorded sittings in her Diary on 27, 29 and 30 April. On 2 May the portrait was finished and two days later she saw both portraits in the painter’s studio. She thought them ‘good’. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters 1934 exhibition at the Royal Institute Galleries and was then hung in the King’s Writing Room at Windsor Castle. From 1967 to 2014 the portrait was on long-term loan to the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon. Queen Mary was an avid fan of Wimbledon and King George V became a Patron of the Club in 1922. Oswald Birley was one of the most successful portrait painters of his generation. He trained in Paris under Marcel Baschet at the Académie Julian from 1901 to 1904, exhibiting regularly at the Salon. In 1905 he travelled to Spain and made a series of copies after Velázquez. Indeed, the formality of this portrait combined with the dark, rich tones of the sitter’s dress, fur, and background has echoes of the work of the Spanish master. From 1906 onwards Birley was working in London, and exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1904 until 1945.