Sue Tilley, the 60-something retired benefits supervisor and beloved sitter for Lucian Freud, has an uncanny meeting with her oil-on-canvas image before it heads to auction next month.

Sue Tilley was working in an unemployment office when she met artist Lucian Freud. His paintings of her in the 1990s are now famous, and very valuable.

Sue Tilley was working in an unemployment office when she met artist Lucian Freud