Castanets and Seimseim, from the Musical Instruments series (N121) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/16 × 2 1/2 in. (10.3 × 6.4 cm)
Classification
Prints|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
63.350.206.121.10
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Castanets and Seseim*, a charming commercial color lithograph from 1888. Produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in collaboration with Schumacher & Ett, this petite card (just 4 1/16 × 2 /2 inches) belongs to the Musical Instruments series (N121 issued to promote Honest Long Cut. Tucked into cigarette packages as collectible inserts, these ephemera captured the imagination of smokers, blending education with commerce by showcasing global instruments like the rhythmic Spanish castanets and the exotic seimseim, often evoking scenes of women d...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Schumacher & Ettlinger · 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...