Watercolor costume sketch by Lemuel Ayers for the musical, St. Louis Woman
date: label: Date
content: 1945
name: label: Created by
content: Lemuel Ayers, American, 1915 - 1955
notes: label: Description
content: A watercolor sketch by Lemuel Ayers of a costume for the musical "St. Louis Woman", as performed in 1946. This costume is for an unidentified character. At the center of the sheet of paper is a light sketch in pencil painted over in watercolor of a woman wearing a patterned blue dress with purple and yellow detailing, a full length skirt, a high, ruffled collar with a brooch at the neck, and a black belt at the waist, sleeves in a leg of mutton style (very full at the shoulder and narrow from elbow to wrist), with an off-center row of buttons running down the proper right side of the bodice and continuing on the proper left side of the skirt. The bodice also has a decoration of flower rosettes running down the left side. The woman is wearing a hat with a black brim decorated with flowers that match the rosettes on the bodice. The woman is wearing black shoes, and her hands are gently outstretched. She has her hair styled in an updo and she is wearing hoop earrings. In the background of the sketch there are a few lines painted in black to indicate the wall and floorboards. At the upper left hand corner is handwritten in graphite: [Sk 200]. There is a piece cut out of the upper right hand corner, and to the left of the cutout area is a splash of purple paint with text handwritten below in graphite: [silk [illegible]]. Midway down the right side of the paper, handwritten in graphite, is the text: [2] and [1 1/2]. On the verso, the upper third of the paper is covered in text handwritten in graphite providing details about the construction of the costume. The sketch is unsigned.
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Art
label: Topic
content: Costume design
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Musical Theatre
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
label: Exhibition
content: Musical Crossroads
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Culture/Fourth Floor, 4 053
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2011.57.45.5
objectType: label: Type
content: design drawings
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Unknown - Restrictions Possible
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: watercolor, graphite and ink on paper
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 15 1/2 x 11 1/4 in. (39.4 x 28.6 cm)