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(经济拮据的) artists commissioned(委托) by the Index of American Design(美国设计索引). Part of the Works Progress Administration(工程振兴局)’s Federal Art Project, the Index aimed to document historical American arts and crafts and provide inspiration for modern designers.
埃塞尔·杜根绘制这幅水彩画时，这双手套已近80岁。该画是美国设计索引委托约1000名经济拮据的艺术家创作的18000多件作品之一。作为工程振兴局联邦艺术项目的一部分，该索引旨在记录美国历史悠久的艺术和手工艺，并为现代设计师提供灵感。
The mittens had been knitted by the fiancée(未婚妻) of Private Franklin Martin Spaulding, an 18-year-old who had enlisted(入伍) in the 6th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment(马萨诸塞州第六志愿步兵团) in August 1862. He had seen active service through that winter, as had his mittens.(那个冬天他经历了实战，他的手套也是。)
这双手套是列兵富兰克林·马丁·斯波尔丁的未婚妻编织的。这位18岁的年轻人于1862年8月加入马萨诸塞州第六志愿步兵团。那个冬天，他经历了实战，他的手套也是。
The black-and-white photograph archived with Dougan’s drawing shows little more than a gray pile of moth-eaten(虫蛀的) wool. Her watercolor—now in the National Gallery of Art(美国国家美术馆)’s collection with the rest of the Index—brings the mittens back to life.
与杜根的画作一起存档的黑白照片，显示的不过是一堆灰蒙蒙的虫蛀羊毛。而她的水彩画——如今与索引其余作品一起藏于美国国家美术馆——让这双手套重获生机。