Bordeaux, from the City Flags series (N6) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
1887
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
63.350.201.6.33
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Bordeaux, from the Flags series (N6 for Allen & Ginterarettes Brands* (1887). Produced by the pioneering American tobacco firm Allen & Ginter, this chromolithograph—measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches—was one of many collectible cards tucked into cigarette packs. Part of a series celebrating international city symbols, it proudly displays the flag or coat of arms of Bordeaux France, evoking the city's rich wine heritage and maritime prestige during an era of global trade. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized commercial prin...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter
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...