Devastation, French Navy, from the Naval Vessels of the World series (N226) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 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
Burdick 218, N226.24
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the late 19th-century world of naval might with *Devastation, French*, a vibrant commercial color lithograph from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's *Naval Vessels of the* series (N226), issued in 1889. This petite card, measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, captures the imposing ironclad battleship *Devastation*—a symbol of France's push toward modern naval supremacy amid Europe's escalating arms race. Produced as promotional ephemera, these cards were tucked into tobacco packages, sparking a collecting craze among enthusiasts. Chromolithography, the era's cutting-edge printing technique, ...
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...