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Find your local specialistGertrude Massey (British, 1868-1957)
Gold frame.
Circular, 29mm. (1 1/8ins.) diam.
Footnotes
Massey fondly recalls her sitting with Princess Mary in "Kings, Commoners and Me" pp.38-40 and the present lot is recorded on p.39, "One of my treasured possessions is a little head of her which I painted and mounted in a small circular gold rim. Queen Alexandra, knowing how greatly I admired the child, allowed me to paint this miniature for myself". In a magazine article entitled 'Painting for the Royal Family' Massey describes Princess Mary as "a fairy-like child with waving golden hair and rose-leaf complexion - a "dainty rogue" indeed, as I have good reason to remember!".
The only daughter of George V and Queen Mary, Princess Mary (later Princess Royal) visited hospitals and welfare organisations extensively with her mother during the First World War. Princess Mary's Gift Fund also provided Christmas boxes for all British troops in 1914. After a nursing course in 1918, Princess Mary worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital and in 1926 was appointed Commandant in Chief of British Red Cross Detachments. In 1922, Princess Mary married Henry, Viscount Lascelles (1882-1947), son of Henry, 5th Earl of Harewood.