Actress wearing unstructured cloth cap, from Stars of the Stage, Third Series (N131) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 3/16 × 2 1/2 in. (10.6 × 6.4 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
63.350.207.131.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s American advertising with this charming commercial color lithograph, *Actress wearing unstructured cloth*, from the *Stars of the Stage, Series (N131)*. Issued by W. Duke Sons & Co.—later the American Tobacco Company, with lithography by Joseph P. Knapp petite card (just 4 3/16 × 2 1/2 inches) promoted "Honest Long Cut Tobacco Tobacco giants like Duke pioneered insert cards featuring celebrities to boost sales and spark collecting fever, turning everyday smokers into enthusiasts of theater icons. Chromolithography, the medium here, was a breakthrough in ma...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Joseph P. Knapp|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...