Lavanderas. Buenos Aires. Circa 1890.

Vintage photograph. Albumen print. Sepia-toned. Unmounted. Dimensions: 9 x 13 cm. In good condition. Formerly in the César Gotta collection.

This image offers a vivid glimpse of the so-called "chinas soldaderas"—resilient women who, often accompanied by their young children, provided essential support to soldiers in countless ways. They were a constant presence during marches and within the military camps of the national army, serving in various capacities: as cooks, makeshift nurses, seamstress-repairers of tattered uniforms, full-time laundresses, suppliers of provisions for the troops, and, naturally, as devoted companions to these men under arms.

These hardy *criolla* women were part of a long-standing tradition that traces back to the glorious struggle for independence, through the civil wars and the isolated outposts on the *pampa*, and—by the late 19th century—into major military operations. There are few surviving records of them, captured by notable photographers such as the Swiss-born Samuel Rimathé and members of the prestigious *Sociedad Fotográfica Argentina de Aficionados* (S.F.A. de A.).

In this *en plein air* (outdoor) shot—where the photographer’s own long shadow is cast into the foreground—the harsh reality of these simple women is captured on a delicate glass-plate negative. It is clearly a women’s encampment set up in the open countryside, featuring makeshift dwellings: white tents and rudimentary shelters constructed from branches and straw. Various items of laundry can be seen drying in the sun.

The scene provides insight into the attire worn by women from the humblest social classes in the late 19th century, characterized by long skirts and woven shawls—essential garments for enduring the cold winter. Some of the women are visibly pregnant. Notably, the composition appears spontaneous; indeed, many of the women are positioned with their backs to the camera. Definitely an unusual nineteenth-century record that faithfully documents a social facet that was rarely recorded.

Abel Alexander

President of the Ibero-American Society for the History of Photography