Woman in Uniform, Italy, World War I. Five Silver Gelatin Photographs.
Large-format photographs, each in its own large period window matte tied with ribbon, three different images, two are repeats, the subject looks decidedly female in face and form, is dressed in a World War I Italian Army [Regio Esecito] gray-green 1909 uniform, with the rank of Major (one star within a rectangle); she is fully dressed with hat, jacket with pockets, jodhpurs, belt, crop, and leather sash; in one pose she is pictured alone, in the other two poses she is accompanied by a woman in a dress, shown with her arm wrapped around her shoulder, and leaning over the back of a rocking chair in which the other woman is seated; some oxidation, each image approximately 7 x 9 in. with some slight variation. (5)
The story of these pictures is unknown. Whether the subject was allowed to serve as a woman, or whether she was accepted as a man remains a mystery for now. Perhaps the uniform was issued to someone else, and it was just a bit of fun.
