Empress of Austria, from World's Sovereigns series (N34) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
1889
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
63.350.202.34.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Empress of Austria* Allen & Ginter's *World's Sovereigns* seriesN34), a commercial color lithograph produced in 1889. This petite card, measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, was one of many collectibles inserted into cigarette packs by the pioneering tobacco firm Allen & Ginter. Part of a popular series depicting global rulers, it captures the grandeur of European royalty through a regal portrait adorned with a coat of arms, reflecting the era's fascination with imperial power and exotic monarchs. Chromolithography, the innovative printin...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter
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...