Coal bucket, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 4) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 15/16 × 1 3/4 in. (5 × 4.4 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
Burdick 218, N228.195
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, tobacco companies like the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company marketing by inserting collectible chromolithograph cards into cigarette packs. This diminutive *Coal Bucket* from the 1889 Novelties series (N, Type 4) that trend. Measuring just under 2 inches, this commercial color lithograph was designed as ephemera—affordable, vibrant inserts meant to entice smokers and spark collecting fervor among enthusiasts of all ages. Chromolithography, the era's cutting-edge technique for mass-producing colorful images, allowed Kinney Bros. to vividly depict everyday objects like ...
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...