Austria, from the National Flags series (N195) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/4 × 2 9/16 in. (10.8 × 6.5 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
63.350.216.195.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Austria, from the National series (N195)*, a charming commercial color lithograph produced by William S. Kimball & Company 1891. This print (just 4¼ × 2⅜ inches) depicts the Austrian flag—horizontal stripes of red, white, and redboldly rendered to evoke national pride. Issued as part of a popular tobacco trading card series, these ephemera were tucked into cigarette packs, enticing collectors young and old to amass sets of global banners during an era of rising nationalism and imperial expansion. Chromolithography, the medium here,...
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...