[Actress cradling small dog], from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-8) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes
![[Actress cradling small dog], from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-8) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes by W. Duke, Sons & Co.|American Tobacco Company](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/dp/thumb/actress-cradling-small-dog-from-the-actors-and-650440.webp)
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 in. (6.8 × 3.5 cm)
Classification
Photographs|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
63.350.208.145.8.315
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s celebrity culture with *[Actress cradling small]*, a charming albumen photograph from the and Actresses series (145-8). Issued W. Duke, Sons & Co. (later the American Tobacco Company) around 1, this tiny portrait—measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches—captures an unidentified actress tenderly holding a small dog, evoking the era's fascination with glamorous performers and their pampered pets. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg whites and silver salts, were the gold standard for sharp, detailed photography at the time, perfect for mass reproductio...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|American Tobacco Company · 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...