There are 35 paintings by 20 different artists hanging on the walls of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. This full-length portrait of Queen Mary and its pair, of King George V (408533), are installed either side of the fireplace in the Dolls’ House Saloon. They flank an overmantel portrait of Electress Sophia of Hanover. Portraits of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, and King George III and Queen Charlotte, hang on the surrounding walls. 

Queen Mary is depicted in her full Coronation garb, which included a bespoke silk satin dress with thick gold embroidery, an ermine and purple velvet mantle, a diamond choker and a crown. Although the artist may have looked to Queen Mary’s full-scale State portrait by William Llewellyn (402024), the pose and attire seem to have been copied from photographs taken of Queen Mary for the Coronation in 1911 (for example, 2306167).                                                                                 

This painting was not typical of the artist, William Orpen, who was best known as a war artist and a painter of light-spirited society portraits. As Lionel Cust commented in The Book of the Queen's Dolls' House (1924), ‘these are the first attempts, if I remember aright, of this brilliant if somewhat emphatic painter to harness his prancing steed within the shafts of royal portraiture’. Orpen had, however, already had practice working on a small scale, as he enjoyed including ‘paintings within paintings’ in his compositions. He even contributed a tiny pen and ink drawing, about 1.5cm high, to the portfolios in the Dolls’ House Library (927239).