Seeking help to date profile and identify subject - Mrs Lewis in Australia?

[Westby]

This is not a photo but a realistic profile painted on metal. I'm looking for help to date the profile based on the composition, hairstyle and costume. I'm also interested in opinions as to who and why such a portrait might have been created - a significant birthday, before a wedding? There is some writing on the back that seems to say Mrs Jones, and depending on the date, we hope we can identify this mystery woman. Our best candidate is a woman born in in England in 1846 who arrived in Sydney in 1852 then moved to Queensland where she was married in Rockhampton at 20 years in 1866.

Thanks.

[jim1]

Bodice & hairstyle suggests mid - late 1860's.
Difficult to give an age to a painting as they tend to be complimentary
but I would say late teens - early 20's.
Thought she'd benefit from some rust removal.
Nothing fancy.

[Milliepede]

No wedding ring yet.  Agree she looks quite young, early 20's.

Who was the woman you have in mind?

[Westby]

Thanks Jim1 and millipede. The woman who may be a candidate is Rebecce Whiffen (1846 - 1929) who married Thomas Henry Lancelot Lewis in 1866. 

Since she was 20 when she married, I'm thinking perhaps this portrait might be been painted around that time.

They stayed in Queensland until at least the early 1870s.

[tomkin]

        Like Jim, I couldn't resist trying to clean up the image. This was an opportunity

       to try some unfamiliar tools. The lady is wearing 'barley curls' which started to become

      popular in the 1840's. So I would guess that it is later than that.