Lilí de Álvarez Country Life Magazine Portrait July 9 1927

Lilí de Álvarez Country Life Magazine Portrait, Frontispiece, July 9 1927. LXII No. 1590

The featured frontispiece this week is a portrait of Lilí de Álvarez (Elia María González-Álvarez y López-Chicheri), one of the most celebrated tennis players of the 1920s and a popular figure at Wimbledon.

• Wimbledon 1927: She reached the Ladies’ Singles final at the 1927 Wimbledon Championships, where she was defeated by Helen Wills in straight sets, 6–2, 6–4.
• The Match: Played on July 2, 1927, this was the first of two consecutive Wimbledon finals between the two rivals.
• Gameplay: The match was noted for its intensity, including a famous 40-stroke rally that left both players exhausted.
• Legacy: While Helen Wills was known for her composure and power, Lilí de Álvarez was admired for her dynamic style and bold shot-making.

This is an authentic original page from Country Life magazine, part of the iconic series often affectionately referred to as the “Girls in Pearls” portraits — elegant society images that captured a distinctive era of British publishing and portraiture.

Size: Approximately 13.75 x 9 inches (35 x 23 cm)

Condition: Very good for its age. As with all vintage magazine pages, light signs of handling or minor age-related blemishes may be present. Please review the large photo carefully for full condition details.

This original Country Life Magazine frontispiece portrait forms part of The Old Map Shop’s curated archive of society portraits published between 1897 and 2026.