May Mukle (1880–1963) is shown wearing a dark orange dress, full-length and in profile, turned to the left with her cello and bow. She is depicted in mid-life, with short grey hair, and the portrait is set low on the canvas. Above left is a chandelier. A gifted soloist of international repute, she performed chamber music with great musicians such as Pablo Casals, Thibaud, Lionel Tertis and Albert Sammons, and also played in several string quartets. She had a long professional association with the pioneering American violinist Maud Powell and with her own pianist sister Anne, and played upon a Montagnana cello presented to her by an anonymous donor, having been invited to select an instrument from the famous Hill Collection. A student at the Royal Academy of Music, the May Mukle Prize at the Academy was founded in her memory in 1964 by Rebecca Clarke and friends, and is competed for and awarded annually to a cello student.