American White Egret, 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
63.350.201.13.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the elegant *American White Egret* Allen & Ginter's *Game Birds* series (N13), a charming 1889 chromolithograph issued as a collectible insert in cigarette packs. Measuring just 1 ½ x 2 ¾ inches, this tiny jewel captures the graceful bird in mid-stride, its plumage rendered with lifelike detail against a subtle natural backdrop. Produced by the skilled lithographers George S. Harris & Sons it exemplifies the golden age of commercial color printing. In the late 19th century, Allen & Ginter pioneered cigarette cards as innovative marketing tools, sparking a collecting craze among adults ...
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...