Original costume design for a friend's masquerade ball, with related letter and notes. Watercolor on paper, 260x197 mm; 10 1/4x7 3/4 inches to sight, affixed on verso with masking tape to original mat, with artist's signature "Winniford Morton" on mat; light tape stains in margin. With 2-page Autograph Letter Signed as "Win" to Ricci Regusteres, 3 leaves of related sketches and descriptions of the costume, original postmarked envelope, and original mailing boards postmarked the next day. Lancaster, TX, 28 and 29 January 1952.
Winn Morton was a renowned costume designer. Born and raised in the Dallas, Texas area, he attended Parsons School of Design and lived intermittently in New York before returning to Dallas in 1977. His clients included the Ringling Circus, numerous Broadway productions, the Arthur Godfrey Show, the Texas Rose Festival, and Guy Lombardo; he was known as the "King of Rhinestones and Feathers."
The design offered here is for a costume ball, described as "basically a matador outfit" in the accompanying notes, with a headpiece of pale green tulle, trousers of tight-fitting green satin, white silk stockings, and ballet slippers.
The letter and design were addressed to interior designer Karl W. "Ricci" Regusteres (1910-2004) of 235 West Broadway in Manhattan. The letter reads in part: "I will mail your sketch & this letter. I hope you like it. I am painting scenery for the San Antonio Opera . . . but the wonderful thing that has happened is that I am designing the costumes for 'The Battle of the Flowers' Coronation Ball in San Antonio (held in April). It is the San Antonio equivalent to New Orleans Mardi Gras, which means it's pure fantasy, which I am mad about. I hope you have a sensational time at the Beaux Arts. I know you will, you camp you, & I hope you find the sketch to your liking."
