Embroidered Garment

Alice Eugenia Ligon, Embroidered Garment, ca. 1949, embroidered muslin, cotton crochet; pencil; cotton rick-rack trim, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1989.78.2
Copied Alice Eugenia Ligon, Embroidered Garment, ca. 1949, embroidered muslin, cotton crochet; pencil; cotton rick-rack trim, 43 3⁄4 x 38 1⁄2 in. (111.1 x 97.8 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr., 1989.78.2

Artwork Details

Title
Embroidered Garment
Artist
Date
ca. 1949
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
43 3⁄4 x 38 1⁄2 in. (111.1 x 97.8 cm.)
Credit Line
Gift of Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr.
Mediums
Mediums Description
embroidered muslin, cotton crochet; pencil; cotton rick-rack trim
Classifications
Keywords
  • Figure group
  • Figure group
  • Animal
  • Landscape — tree
  • Allegory — life
  • Religion — Old Testament — Eve
  • Religion — Old Testament — Adam
  • History — United States — discovery of United States
  • Object — flower
  • Object — written matter
Object Number
1989.78.2
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1989.78.2

Artwork Description

For many folk artists, life-changing events such as death, injury, or disease that affects the family may trigger a period of great creativity. According to the embroidered inscription, Ligon created this dress as a Christmas gift for her children while she was a patient at Fulton State Hospital. She was hospitalized there in 1949 and 1953 for an unspecified condition. Ligon enjoyed sewing, crocheting, and quilting, but this garment; this gown, probably her first hospital gown or uniform, shows her remarkable skill. She crocheted the hem and sleeves and used every available inch of cloth to embroider religious, patriotic, popular, and personal portraits, vignettes, and inscriptions.

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006

Exhibitions

Media - 2019.15 - SAAM-2019.15_1 - 137377
Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women
May 31, 2024–January 5, 2025
Renwick Gallery
The artists in Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women mastered and subverted the everyday materials of cotton, felt, and wool to create deeply personal artworks.