[1][2] Born in Invercargill in 1914, she was the daughter of Jessie Barclay and Oliver Duff, writer and foundation editor of the New Zealand Listener.
[6] Among her characteristic works from this time are portrait busts such as Sir Edmund Hillary (1959) in the Auckland Art Gallery collection.
[8]: 168 Art historian Anne Kirker writes 'This work is made from cement, a medium that enhances the rugged and tough demeanour of the eminent New Zealander.
'[8] Duff's work was regularly featured in the Auckland City Art Gallery's survey exhibitions of current artistic practice in the 1960s.
[6] Her work is held in the collections of Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki.