Purple star costume designed by Sun Ra and worn by Arkestra members: Museum Object and Cultural History
Purple star costume designed by Sun Ra and worn by Arkestra members: Date: early 1990s. Created by: Sun Ra, American, 1914 - 1993. Used by: The Sun Ra Arkestra, American.
The object in the museum catalogue
A poncho-style stage costume designed by Sun Ra. Poncho is comprised of several different cuts of synthetic fabrics stitched together with decorative fabric patches sewed on top. The design depicts shooting stars in sequined fabric trailed by swathes of shiny, lamé-evoking fabric on a rich purple background fabric. Collar, hem, and lining are a pink-purple fabric. One section of the purple fabric has detached along a seam line, approximately five inches long, under the star at proper right.
Materials, dates and provenance
- Date: early 1990s
- Created by: Sun Ra, American, 1914 - 1993
- Used by: The Sun Ra Arkestra, American
- Type: ponchos
- Medium: synthetic fiber and sequin
- Dimensions: H x W x D (flat): 41 × 59 1/2 × 1/8 in. (104.1 × 151.1 × 0.3 cm)
- Topic: African American
- Topic: Clothing and dress
- Topic: Costume
- Topic: Jazz (Music)
- Object number: 2021.52.2
- Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
- Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture
Sources and reuse
Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: Unknown - Restrictions Possible Rights assessment and proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
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