Azuvert, from the Song Birds of the World series (N23) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 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
63.350.201.23.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Azuvert, from the Song Birds of the World series (N23)** This charming chromolithograph depicts Azuvert, a vibrant songbird, as part of Allen & Ginter's 1890 "Song Birds of the World" series (N23). Produced by the Philadelphia lithography firm George S. Harris & Sons, these tiny prints—measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches—were inserted into cigarette packs as collectible trading cards. At the height of the Gilded Age, tobacco companies like Allen & Ginter revolutionized marketing by bundling these colorful cards with products, sparking a collecting craze among adults and children alike. Chrom...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|George S. Harris & Sons
Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...