Ace of Clubs (black), from the Playing Cards series (N84) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 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
63.350.204.84.28
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *Ace of Clubs (black)* from the Playing Cards series (N84 produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in 1888. This diminutive commercial color lithograph, measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, mimics a traditional playing card, showcasing the ace of clubs in bold black ink against a colorful backdrop. Created as a promotional insert for Duke brand cigarettes, it exemplifies the era's innovative marketing tactics by tobacco giants. Chromolithography, the printing technique used here, allowed for affordable, eye-catching color reproduction on ...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 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...