Bedouin, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Folded): 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 in. (6.8 × 3.7 cm) Sheet (Unfolded): 6 7/8 × 1 7/16 in. (17.4 × 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
Burdick 218, N240.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Bedouin*, a commercial color lithograph from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's " of Nationalities" seriesN240), issued in1890. These diminutive cards—folded to just 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 inches for easy tucking into cigarette packs—were collectibles designed to boost tobacco sales. Kinney Bros. tapped into the era's fascination with global cultures, producing sets that romanticized "types" from distant lands, blending commerce with exotic allure. The card depicts a Bedouin man, evoking the nomadic peoples of the Middle East, with tags h...
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...