Bronze, Servius Sulpicius Galba, 68 A.D., from the Ancient Coins series (N180) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 1/2 × 2 5/8 in. (3.8 × 6.7 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
63.350.216.180.16
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming chromolithograph, produced in 1888 by William. Kimball & Company, captures a bronze coin of Servius Sulpicius Gal, Roman emperor in 68 A.D. Part of the "Ancient Coins (N180)," it exemplifies the era's trade cards—small, colorful promotional inserts bundled with Kimball's tobacco products. These epa fueled a collecting craze among Victorians, blending advertising savvy with scholarly fascination for classical antiquity. The lithograph vividly reproduces the ancient coin's portrait of Galba, whose brief reign marked the chaotic Year of the Four Emperors amid Nero's fall. Chromolit...
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...