Clara St. Muir, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 1/2 × 1 7/16 in. (6.4 × 3.7 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
63.350.220.245.1716
Tags
Art Historical Context
This petite albumen photograph, *Clara St. Muir* from the Actresses series (N245), captures the poised likeness of a young actress in 1890, issued by the Kinney Brothers Company to promote their popular Sweet Caporal Cigarettes Measuring just 2½ × 1⅞ inches, it exemplifies the era's cigarette trading cards—collectible ephemera that turned everyday tobacco purchases into a gateway for celebrity fandom. Part of a larger series featuring glamorous performers, this card reflects the Gilded Age's obsession with theater stars, blending portraiture with savvy marketing to entice collectors, often you...
About the Artist
Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011
**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...