Arabia, from the Dancing Girls of the World series (N185) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 in. (6.8 × 3.8 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
63.350.216.185.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Arabia, from the Girls of the World seriesN185)*, a petite commercial color lithograph produced William S. Kimball & Company in 1889. Issued as a trade card by the Rochester-based tobacco firm, this card was one of many in a popular series featuring exoticized depictions of women dancers from around the globe. Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches, it was designed for collectors, tucked into cigarette packs to entice buyers and spark a collecting craze. Chromolithography, the medium here, brought this image to life with bold, 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...