Card Number 253, Madam Bollini, 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
63.350.207.145.2.57
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Card Number 253, Bollini*, from the *Actors and Actresses* (N145-2). Issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in 1880s to their Cross Cut Cigarettes, this albumen photograph captures the of Madam Bollini, a celebrated actress of the era. Measuring just 2 5/8 × 1 7/16 inches, it was designed as an insert in cigarette packs, enticing collectors with glamorous portraits of theater stars. Cigarette cards like this one exploded in popularity during the Gilded Age, blending mass marketing with ephemera collecting. Duke Sons & Co., a pioneering toba...
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...