Antique East Indian Dancer, from the Dancing Women series (N186) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 in. (6.9 × 3.7 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
63.350.216.186.13
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Antique East Indian Dancer from the *Dancing Women* seriesN186), issued by. S. Kimball &. in 1889. This petite commercial color lithograph, just 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 inches, captures an elegant figure in traditional attire, evoking the exotic allure of East Indian dance. Produced by the Rochester-based tobacco company, it was collectible card among many distributed with Kimball's cigarette packs to entice smokers and fuel a collecting frenzy. Chromolithography, the innovative printing technique used here, allowed for vivid, multi-layer...
About the Artist
William S. Kimball & Company
**William S. Kimball & Company**, a pioneering American tobacco manufacturer, was established in 1846 in Rochester, New York, by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart. The firm quickly grew into one of the city's largest employers, particularly of women, producing popular brands like Peerless chewing tobacco, Rigatta and Fireside smoking tobacco, and Vanity Fair cigarettes. Under Kimball's leadersh...