Baking Bread

Dateca. 1895

Mediumglass plate negative

Dimensions4 5/8 × 6 1/2 in. (11.7 × 16.5 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of Walter C. Haussamen

Object numberPA1990.013.267.A

DescriptionA person crouches down at the entrance to an horno (outdoor oven) on the Pueblo of Zuni, New Mexico. There are loaves of bread baking within the oven and other loaves are resting on a board outside the oven. A group of children are standing near the horno, to the left of the frame, and looking toward the camera. The person holding the wooden, cloth-covered door is looking over their left shoulder toward the camera. They wear a checkers apron over long sleeves and dress layers. The baker has a silver bracelet cuff on the left wrist, earrings, is barefoot, and has shoulder length hair with the part on the side, swooping across the forehead.

There are pots and rock pillars to the right of the horno. Coyote fences surround corrals in the background. In the far distance, a mesa rises from the flat landscape.

The person baking bread has been tentatively identified as “We’wha”, an llhamana or Two-Spirit individual, who served as a diplomat to the United States from Zuni Pueblo. Llhamana are a socially-recognized third gender in Zuni traditional culture who often hold positions of honor in the community.

Silver mirroring and emulsion deterioration is occurring on the glass plate creating color distortion and emulsion loss. The bottom left of the glass plate is broken and there is a piece of tape covering part of the image.

On View

Not on view

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