The portrait can be dated around 1840, when women began sporting “barley curls” and long ringlets came into style for adults. Her hairstyle gives away the timeframe.The woman in the picture may have found inspiration with Princess Victoria,Princess of Kent,who can be seen sporting with some fancy curls at the side of her face in a 1835 self-portrait.

An adze is a cutting tool similar to an axe but with a cutting edge perpendicular to the handle rather than parallel. Prehistoric Māori adzes from New Zealand, used for wood carving, were made from nephrite (also known as jade) in the South Island. In the North Island they were commonly made from greywacke or basalt. At the same time on Henderson Island, a small coral island in eastern Polynesia lacking any rock other than limestone, natives may have fashioned giant clamshells into adzes. These two adzes are made of a wooden shaft and both decorated with carved abstract motives. They end in an axe-like tool at the top. The two parts if the adzes are held together by a leather cloth and mud. One has a shaft is made out of two shades of wood. The bottom half starts with a more reddish and light brown shade and is decorated with abstract motives covering the handle. The upper part of the shaft is less round and is not decorated, but rather smooth. The color is dark brown. The other has monochrome shaft in light brown. The condition of both adzes is still very good.