Card Number 212, Fanny Rice, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-2) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes
1880s
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 in. (6.6 × 3.7 cm)
Classification
Photographs|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
63.350.207.145.2.303
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of19th-century advertising with *Card Number 212, Rice*, a petite albumen photograph from the and Actresses series (145-2), issued by W. Duke, & Co. in the 1880s to their Cross Cut Cigarettes. Measuring just 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 inches, this ephemera captures the poised portrait of actress Fanny Rice, embodying the era's fascination with theater stars. Part of a popular collectible series, these cards were tucked into cigarette packs, sparking a collecting craze among enthusiasts and turning everyday smokers into amateur archivists. The albumen print medium, a hallmark o...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...