Card Number 321, Bessie Cleveland, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-5) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes
1880s
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 in. (6.8 × 3.5 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
63.350.208.145.5.25
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Card Number 321,ie Cleveland*, a petite albumen photograph from the and Actresses series (145-5). Issued W. Duke, Sons & Co. in the 1880s to their Cameo Cigarettes, this card—measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches—captures the poised portrait of actress Bess Cleveland, highlighting her as a celebrated figure in American theater. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg whites and silver salts, were the gold standard for photography in this era, offering rich tones and fine detail ideal for mass-produced ephemera like these col...
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...