Card Number 559, Miss Bartine, 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
63.350.208.145.7.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1880s American popular culture with *Card Number 559, Bartine*, from the *Actors and Actresses* series (N145-7) issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co. These petite albumen photographs were tucked into Duke Cigarette packs as clever marketing ploys, transforming smoking into a gateway for collecting celebrity portraits. Actresses Miss Bartine, a stage star of the era, captivated audiences in vaudeville and theater, making her image a coveted prize that fueled the collecting craze among enthusiasts. Crafted as an albumen print—a 19th-century photographic process using egg ...
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...