Chief of the Watuta Tribe, Africa, from the Savage and Semi-Barbarous Chiefs and Rulers series (N189) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 in. (6.8 × 3.8 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
63.350.216.189.36
Tags
Art Historical Context
This vibrant commercial color lithograph, titled *Chief of the Watuta Tribe, Africa*, is part of the *Savage and Semi-Barous Chiefs and Rulers series (N189), in 1888 by the Wm. S. Kimball &. tobacco company. Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches, it captures portrait of a tribal leader in vivid detail, reflecting the era's fascination with "otherness." Produced as collectible trade cards bundled with cigarettes, these prints fueled the late-19th-century craze for album collecting among Americans, blending advertising with armchair exploration. Chromolithography, the medium here, was a breakth...
About the Artist
William S. Kimball & Company
**William S. Kimball & Company**, a pioneering American tobacco manufacturer, was established in 1846 in Rochester, New York, by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart. The firm quickly grew into one of the city's largest employers, particularly of women, producing popular brands like Peerless chewing tobacco, Rigatta and Fireside smoking tobacco, and Vanity Fair cigarettes. Under Kimball's leadersh...