There are 35 paintings by 20 different artists hanging on the walls of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. This is one of three works by Alfred Munnings arranged around the fireplace of the Dining Room.

Munnings, who had painted cavalry scenes during the First World War, was best known for his depictions of horses and cattle. He had already collaborated with Edwin Lutyens, the chief architect of the Dolls’ House project, producing in 1920 an equestrian statue in honour military officer Edward Horner.

This little work depicts the chestnut horse Delhi, King George V’s charger. The King was particularly fond of this horse, which he acquired during a visit to India in 1911, writing in his diary after one event, ‘I rode ‘Delhi' who went beautifully, he is perfection.' The miniature monarch would undoubtedly have enjoyed looking at his treasured companion during meal times in the Dolls’ House Dining Room.

In this painting, Delhi is shown saddled up but static, standing in the Royal Mews and tended to by a figure in a top hat, probably his primary trainer Albert Green. For the composition, it is likely that Munnings looked to photographs of Delhi and Green from the period.