Bavarian 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
63.350.216.186.40
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of late 19th-century ephemera with *Bavarian Dancer*N186), a delightful commercial color lithograph from *Dancing Women* series issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889. This print, measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 inches, captures a graceful woman in traditional Bavarian folk attire—think dirndl dress, bodice, and apron—mid-twirl, evoking the lively energy of European dance traditions. Produced as a promotional insert for tobacco products, it exemplifies the era's trade card craze, where collectors eagerly amassed these colorful vignettes. Chromolithography, the medium ...
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...