The negative on glass was made by Romulus Vuia in 1913, in Clopotiva, Râu de Mori, Hunedoara county, Hațeg Country.
In the foreground, there is a woman dressed up in a folk costume specific to the area, carrying a child on her back, on a village street, in front of a wicker fence covered in straw, and in the background, two buildings can be distinguished.
The woman’s folk costume is one of the area-specific variants. The hair is combed with a path on the middle, braided in “twists”, tied to “conci”, over which is worn “ceapsa with horns”, made of cloth embroidered with geometric motives. On her neck, she wears a polychrome beaded necklace, and earrings in her ears. The long shirt is made of homemade cloth, crinkled at the neck, with a narrow collar, decorated with geometric motives; wide sleeves, decorated along the arm with a series of geometric motives. The side gusset is attached to the sleeve with key patterns.
The sleeve ends with a large “fodor”, delimited by a “knack bracelet”, which tightens the sleeve. The “fodor” has a dark decoration at the bottom and it ends with white lace. Over the shirt, the woman wears a clogged breastplate, short to the waist, decorated with floral motives. Over the lap, on the back, it has a wider, dark “catrință” (skirt), with horizontal stripes chosen in the loom, and in front - a shorter and narrower one, dark-colored, with vertical stripes. A metal key hangs from the cincture. On her feet, she has stockings made of a polychrome cloth, and sandals (“opinci”) with high and twisted tips, tied to the leg with long straps.
In her right hand, the woman holds a bowl made of wooden staves, with handle and lid. On her back, in a sack made of woolen cloth, decorated with stripes, the woman carries a small child, dressed in a linen shirt, with choppy sleeves on shoulder and finished with “pumnași”.
Registered with title “Woman with child on her back”, with inventory no. 32, the negative is made in the dry gelatin technique. Dimensions: 9 cm x 12 cm.
Photo: the MET Archive