Studio portrait of Elizabeth Plane, Cooktown, Queensland, 1880-1890

I discovered this captivating portrait of Elizabeth Plane when I was trawling through the State Library of Queensland’s Flickr feed. There looks to me to be something so steely in her expression (it’s almost a ‘blue steel’ look, a reference those who are fans of the movie Zoolander would understand!). 

Not a lot is known about Elizabeth, other than that she arrived in Queensland in 1881 on board the Cheybassa. She was around the age of 23 when she disembarked in Cooktown, making her birth date around 1858. 

Generally it’s easier to date a portrait that is full length, because the more detail you can see the more chance of successfully determining when a portrait was taken. The shape of a skirt, the length, the detail on the hemline all help us in this endeavour. But there is still some detail in this seated portrait that gives us some visual clues. 

And that’s the first clue for us – a seated three-quarter length composition was a popular trend in the 1870s and 1880s. And could that be a family bible in Elizabeth’s lap?

Now we turn to her clothing. Elizabeth appears to me to look quite regal in her corseted dress. It’s a narrow sheath-like silhouette, due to the bodice being fitted via a series of darts, which we can see from under the bust to the hips. There are approximately 20 buttons that run down the middle of this one-piece gown, some of which are covered by the swathe of material that loops across the front of the dress. 

The other feature that caught my eye is the shirring on the sleeves above and below the elbow. Shirring was a very popular technique in the early 1880s, particularly used on the skirts of dresses. While we can’t see the full length of Elizabeth’s dress, there is a feature on the centre bottom of the frame that perhaps is shirring as well. 

All these clues – the silhouette, the darting, the shirring, the composition, point to an early 1880s date for this portrait. 

I couldn’t find any more references to Elizabeth Plane in the records or public family trees. I also searched for any mentions on Trove but alas, there were none. I would love to know what became of her, so if anyone out there can lay claim to Elizabeth Plane I’d love to know more.

Cassie Gilmartin is co-host of the Portrait Detective podcast and previously, editor and founder of Inside History magazine. She is a frequent contributor and spokesperson for Ancestry.com.au.

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