De Wolf Hopper Dressed as Chinese Mandarin, from the set Actors and Actresses, Second Series (N71) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 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
63.350.204.71.19
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American popular culture with this charming commercial color lithograph,De Wolf Hopper Dressed Chinese Mandarin*. Produced between 1888 and 1890 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in collaboration with Knapp & Company, it forms part of the *Actors and Actresses, Series (N71)*a set of collectible inserted into Duke brand cigarette packs. Measuring just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches, this tiny print captures the celebrated actor De Wolf Hopper in an elaborate costume evoking exotic theatrical fantasy, highlighting the era's fascination with stage performers and Orientalist...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Knapp & Company · 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...