Annie Sommerville in Colors of Hoboken Yacht Club, from the Yacht Colors of the World series (N140) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 in. × 2 1/2 in. (10.1 × 6.3 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
63.350.207.140.25
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming 1890 color lithograph belongs to the “Yacht Colors of the World” series (N140) produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as a premium for Honest Long Cut Tobacco. Measuring just 4 2½ inches, the small card was designed to be collected and traded, a popular marketing strategy of the era that turned everyday tobacco purchases into miniature lessons in geography and sport. The image depicts Annie Sommerville posed with the distinctive flags of the Hoboken Yacht Club, blending portraiture with nautical heraldry. Printed in vibrant commercial lithography, the card captures the growing enthusia...
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...