Eight of Hearts, Feeding the Swans, from Harlequin Cards, 2nd Series (N220) 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, N220.23
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the whimsical world of 19th-century advertising with *Eight of Hearts, Feeding Swans*, a charming card from the *Harlequin Cards, nd Series (N220)* issued by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company in 188. This petite commercial color lithograph, measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, captures a serene leisure moment—likely a figure gently feeding elegant swans near a boat, evoking Victorian romance and the suit of Hearts. Produced as inserts in cigarette packs, these cards were collectibles designed to boost brand loyalty amid fierce tobacco competition. Chromolithography, the era's breakthrou...
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...