American Bittern, from the Game Birds series (N13) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (3.8 x 7 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
63.350.201.13.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *American Bittern*, gem from Allen & Ginter's Game Birds series (N13), issued in 1889. This petite commercial color lithograph, measuring just 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches, the elusive American bittern—a marsh-dwelling wading bird known for its camouflaged "freeze" pose reeds. Produced by the pioneering cigarette company Allen & Ginter and printed by George S. Harris Sons, it was one of many trading cards tucked into cigarette packs to entice collectors and boost sales. Chromolithography, the era's breakthrough technique for affordable, viv...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|George S. Harris & Sons
Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...