Card Number 375, Miss Jarbeau, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-7) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke 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
63.350.208.145.7.101
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1880s advertising with *Card Number 375, Jarbeau*, a petite albumen photograph from W. Duke, Sons & Co.'s and Actresses series (145-7). Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 3/8 inches, this trading card was tucked into Duke Cigarette packs to entice collectors and boost sales. Featuring the poised portrait of actress Miss Jarbeau, captures the era's fascination with theater stars, who embodied glamour and escapism for a growing American public. Albumen prints, the medium here, were photography's gold standard in the 19th century. Made by coating paper with egg whites to h...
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...