English Naval Officer, from World's Smokers series (N33) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
1888
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
63.350.202.33.11
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *English Naval Officer*, a gem from Allen & Ginter's *World's Smokers* series (N33), produced in 1888. This petite commercial color lithograph, just 2¾ x 1½ inches, captures a distinguished naval officer in profile, pipe in hand, embodying the era's imperial pride. Allen & Ginter, pioneering tobacco merchants, issued these cards as inserts in cigarette packs to entice collectors and boost sales during the Victorian boom in smoking culture. Chromolithography, the medium here, was a breakthrough technique blending multiple lithographi...
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...