A Bare Chance, from the Jokes series (N87) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 3.8 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
63.350.204.81.34
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *A Bare Chance*, ay entry from the Jokes seriesN87) produced by W. Duke, Sons &. in collaboration with George S. & Sons. This diminutive commercial color lithograph measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, was designed as a collectible insert tucked into Duke brand cigarette packages. At a time when tobacco companies vied for consumer loyalty amid fierce competition, these tiny cards sparked a collecting frenzy, blending humor with promotion to keep smokers coming back for more. Crafted via chromolithography—a pioneering technique that layered vibra...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|George S. Harris & Sons · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...