Dora, from the Ballet Queens series (N182) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
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
63.350.216.182.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the glittering world of 19th-century ballet with *Dora, from the Queens series (N182, a charming commercial color lithograph produced in 1889 by William. Kimball & Company, a prominent American tobacco firm. This petite print (just 2¾ × 1½ inches) captures the grace of its titular ballerina, embodying the era's fascination with theatrical stars and the rising popularity of ballet as high entertainment. Issued as part of a collectible series, it served as promotional ephemera, enticing smokers with vivid vignettes of performers amid Kimball's cigarette packaging. Chromolithography, t...
About the Artist
William S. Kimball & Company
**William S. Kimball & Company**, a pioneering American tobacco manufacturer, was established in 1846 in Rochester, New York, by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart. The firm quickly grew into one of the city's largest employers, particularly of women, producing popular brands like Peerless chewing tobacco, Rigatta and Fireside smoking tobacco, and Vanity Fair cigarettes. Under Kimball's leadersh...