Studio portrait of a young woman with bottle curls, wearing tartan and a bonny velvet hat. Melbourne, circa 1875.

Albumen print photograph, cabinet card format, 164 x 107 mm (mount); recto imprinted in gold ‘CABINET PORTRAIT. Johnstone, O’Shannessy & Co., Photographers to His Excellency. 3 Bourke St. East, next the Post Office, Melbourne’; a superb print in fine condition; the mount is unmarked (verso blank).

The young woman is quite possibly a singer or actress: her outfit is virtually identical to that worn by opera star Ilma de Murska in a famous portrait photograph by Disderi.