Lavery oil portrait of his wife makes £481k

07 May 2010

She became one of the most stylish hostesses in London and for half-a-century her image graced Irish banknotes.

Now the last formal portrait of Hazel, Lady Lavery, has gone under the hammer for £481,250.

Painted in oil on canvas in 1929, The Gold Turban was the last formal portrait of Lady Lavery by her Belfast-born husband Sir John Lavery.

The painting, described by Sotheby's as “the most important late portrait of Lavery's most glamorous subject”, was sold yesterday to a mystery bidder.

Hazel Lavery (1880-1935), the painter's second wife, was probably his favourite model, posing for numerous single and group portraits between 1905 and 1934.