The Duchess of Roxburghe, Mary Innes-Ker (1915-2014)

Details

SIR OSWALD BIRLEY, R.A. (BRITISH, 1880-1952)
The Duchess of Roxburghe, Mary Innes-Ker (1915-2014)
signed and dated 'Oswald Birley/ 1948' (upper left) and further signed and inscribed 'OSWALD BIRLEY/62 WELLINGTON ROAD/N.W. 8/THE DUCHESS OF ROXBURGHE/4' (on a Royal Society of Portrait Painters label attached to the reverse)
oil on canvas
43 ½ x 35 ½ in. (110.5 x 90.2 cm.)

Provenance

The Duchess: Precious Objects and Property from the Estate of Mary, Duchess of Roxburghe; Sotheby’s, London, 27 May 2015, lot 229, when acquired by the present owner.

Exhibited

London, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, 1948, no. 266.

Conditions of sale

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Lot Essay

Lady Mary Crewe-Milnes was the daughter of the first Marquess of Crewe. She married the 9th Duke of Roxburghe in 1935, but they divorced in 1953. Thereafter she lived at West Horsley Place, Surrey, now the home of Grange Park Opera. In this portrait, painted in 1948, she wears a pearl brooch that belonged to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, Emperor of France. Formerly one of a set of four, another, the shoulder brooch, was acquired by the Louvre in 2015.

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