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
label: Subject of
content: Robert Pope
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 the character "Badfoot" performed by Robert Pope. At the center of the sheet of paper is a light sketch in pencil painted over in watercolor of a man wearing a long black jacket with a purple rosette boutonniere, a purple and teal-patterned vest, a white dress shirt, light-colored pinstriped pants and black shoes, with his left arm partially raised. There is a graphite sketch of a guitar, not painted, extending down to the ground from the man's right hand. At the upper left hand corner, in ink, is handwritten [#56]. Behind the figure of the man are some lightly painted lines indicating a wall and floorboards. Handwritten in pencil behind the man's right shoulder is written [emb. vest/ and velvet bund]. Stapled to the upper right corner of the paper is an index card with handwriting at the top, in ink: [Sk 56/ Badfoot]. Below this, five (5) swatches of fabric---violet, teal, purple, pink, and cream--- are stapled and/or glued. Next to the swatches are notes, handwritten in ink, indicating where each fabric is used in the costume. Below the attached piece of paper, hand written, is the text: [Black stripes./ on trouser leg./ emb stripe on pant]. At the bottom center, below the sketch of the guitar, is written in blue: [Pope]. At the bottom right corner is handwritten in red paint: [Badfoot -/ Cake walk & Funeral]. On the verso, the sketch is stamped with a United Scenic Artists stamp and signed at the lower right corner in graphite: [L. Ayers].
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
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: 2011.57.45.1
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 with cloth and metal staples
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 12 x 9 3/4 in. (30.5 x 24.8 cm)