Look Closer: A Mysterious Pair of Mittens
Index of American Design / National Gallery of Art The mittens were almost 80 years old when Ethel Dougan painted this watercolor, one of more than 18,000 works by some 1,000 financially strapped artists commissioned by the Index of American Design.
Key points
- Her watercolor—now in the National Gallery of Art’s collection with the rest of the Index—brings the mittens back to life.
- This article appears in the December 2026 print edition with the headline “Mittens.”.
- He had seen active service through that winter, as had his mittens.
The mittens had been knitted by the fiancée of Private Franklin Martin Spaulding, an 18-year-old who had enlisted in the 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment in August 1862.
Additional details
- Part of the Works Progress Administration’s Federal Art Project, the Index aimed to document historical American arts and crafts and provide inspiration for modern designers.
- It’s there for the teenage soldier’s index finger, so he could tear the end off a paper cartridge, load his rifle, and pull the trigger in the cold.
- Worn and faded, certainly, they are nonetheless spirited, with a patriotic color scheme, embroidered stars, and rib-stitched stripes.
- The black-and-white photograph archived with Dougan’s drawing shows little more than a gray pile of moth-eaten wool.
- Arranged on the page with fingertips touching, they seem to reach toward each other like children holding hands.
How this summary was made: extractive summary — built from the sources' own reporting. It is drawn only from the reporting of the sources listed below — read the originals for full detail. How we summarize →
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