English, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Folded): 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 in. (6.8 × 3.7 cm) Sheet (Unfolded): 6 7/8 × 1 7/16 in. (17.4 × 3.7 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, N240.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming chromolithograph, titled *English* from the *Types of Nationalities (N)* series, was produced in 1890 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company to promote their popular Sweet Caporal cigarettes. tiny cards, designed to fit neatly into cigarette packs—folded to just 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 inches (6.8 × 3.7 cm), unfolding to 6 7/8 × 1 7/16 inches (17.4 × 3.7 cm)—were collectible inserts that captured Victorian-era fascination with national stereotypes. Depicting a stereotypical English gentleman, likely with pipe in hand given the smoking theme, it reflects the era's commercial ephemera cul...
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...