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: Gwendolyn Hale
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 "Girl #4" performed by Gwendolyn Hale. At the center of the sheet of paper is a light sketch in pencil painted over in watercolor of a woman wearing a pink dress with a patterned full length skirt, a white patterned bodice with a high collar and bow at the waist, pink sleeves in a leg of mutton style (very full at the shoulder and narrow from elbow to wrist), with a pink hat with yellow brim decorated with flowers and a bow. The woman is wearing black shoes and is holding a black parasol in her left hand. Behind the figure of the woman are some lightly painted lines indicating a fence and boardwalk. At the upper left hand corner, in ink, is handwritten [Sk. #92]. Stapled to the upper right corner is an index card with handwriting at the top, in ink: [Sk 92/ Girl #4]. Below the writing, one (1) swatch of pink fabric is stapled and glued. Other swatches of fabric are missing. Next to the swatch and the spaces where the missing swatches previously were attached are notes, handwritten in ink, indicating where in the costume each fabric is used. At the bottom of this piece of paper is handwritten in graphite: [M? 3-3827]. On the verso of the index card are written additional details about fabrics and costume specifications. At the bottom left corner, handwritten in graphite, is: [Hale]. At the bottom right corner is the text handwritten in black ink: [GIRL #4] and below that written in brown ink: [Butterfly [struck through] / Race Scene]. On the verso is another piece of paper that has been both stapled to the main sketch and taped with adhesive tape, with text providing instructions as to how many yards are needed of each type of fabric. The sketch is stamped with a United Scenic Artists stamp and signed on verso, 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: 2011.57.45.3
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, adhesive tape and metal staples
label: Dimensions
content: H x W: 12 x 9 5/8 in. (30.5 x 24.4 cm)