Arms of the State of Massachusetts, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 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
Burdick 218, N224.291
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming 1888 color lithograph captures the coat of arms of Massachusetts as part of the Military Series (N224), a set of small trading cards produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. Measuring just 2¾ by 1½ inches, the card was designed to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes and features the state’s emblem with its distinctive bow, arrow, and military figures. Created through commercial color lithography, a technique that allowed vibrant, affordable mass production, the print reflects the era’s growing advertising industry. Cigarette cards like this one were wildly popular in the la...
About the Artist
Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011
**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...