Profile portrait of a woman with bottle curls and wearing a striped dress, seated at a writing desk with her hand on an open book. Adelaide, mid 1860s.

Albumen print photograph, carte de visite format, 103 x 63 mm (mount); verso with imprint of ‘T. Duryea, Photographer to His Excellency, 66 & 68 King William St. Adelaide’; both the print and mount are in fine condition.

The detail in this image is incredibly sharp: not only is the aristocratic-looking woman’s wedding ring clearly discernible, but it even appears to have been deliberately made prominent by the photographer. It also looks like the sitter may be wearing a maternity dress – but that is impossible to say with any degree of certainty.