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: Pearl Bailey, American, 1918 - 1990
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 "Butterfly" performed by Pearl Bailey. At the center of the sheet of paper is a light sketch in pencil painted over in watercolor of a woman wearing a patterned, light green dress with a pink bouse and green puff sleeves with dark green bows at the shoulders and cuffs, a bow with a long sash at the waist, a hat with a bow, and a veil. At the upper left hand corner, in ink, is handwritten [Sk # 73]. At the upper right hand corner of the paper is a drawing, not overpainted, showing the back view of the dress. Behind the figure of the woman are some lightly painted lines indicating a wall and floorboards. Stapled to the lower right hand corner of the paper is a small piece of paper with handwriting at the top, in ink: [Bailey Sk 73/ Butterfly]. Below this, four (4) swatches of pink, green, yellow and gray fabric are stapled and/or glued. Next to the swatches are notes, handwritten in ink, indicating where in the costume each fabric is used. Below the attached piece of paper, hand painted, is the text: [Butterfly./ Funeral]. At the bottom left corner, handwritten in graphite, is: [Pearl Bailey]. At the bottom right corner is a paper watermark. The verso of the sketch is covered in text. At the top is [# 73 - ], and below are instructions as to how many yards are needed of each type of fabric. The sketch is unsigned. On the verso, the paper is stamped at the lower right corner with a United Scenic Artists stamp.
place: label: Place used
content: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
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: 2011.57.45.2ab
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 1/8 x 9 9/16 in. (30.8 x 24.3 cm)