Deer, from the Quadrupeds series (N21) for Allen & Ginter 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
63.350.201.21.12
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Deer, from the Quadrupeds (N21)*, a delightful chromolithograph produced by Allen & Ginter in 1890. This tiny gem, measuring just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches, was one of many collectible cards inserted into cigarette packs to entice smokers and spark a collecting craze. Allen & Ginter, innovative tobacco pioneers, partnered with lithographers Lindner, Eddy & Claus create these ephemera, capturing the grace of a deer in exquisite detail against a natural backdrop. The medium—commercial color lithography—revolutionized mass printing, allowi...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|Lindner, Eddy & Claus
Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...