Count von Moltke, Oldenburg, from the Rulers, Flags, and Coats of Arms series (N126-1) issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 1/2 × 4 5/16 in. (6.4 × 11 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
63.350.206.126.33
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th advertising with *Count von Moltke Oldenburg*, a commercial color lithograph from W. Duke, Sons & Co.'s *Rulers, Flags, Coats of Arms* (N126-1), issued in 1888. Produced by the prominent American tobacco company, this petite card—measuring just 2½ × 4⅜ inches—was likely distributed as a collectible insert in cigarette packages, capitalizing on the era's booming trade card craze. These ephemera captured the public's fascination with global leaders, heraldry, and national symbols, blending education with promotion. Chromolithography, the innovative printing t...
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...