Fair Day, Wales, from the Holidays series (N80) for Duke brand cigarettes
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
63.350.204.80.51
Art Historical Context
Step into the lively world of late 19th-century advertising with *Fair Day, Wales*, charming chromolithograph from the Holidays series (N80) by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in collaboration with George S. Harris Sons. Created in 1890, this tiny print (just 2¾ x 1½ inches) was tucked into packs of Duke brand cigarettes as a collectible insert, enticing smokers to buy more for the full set. Depicting a festive Welsh fair, it captures the joy of holidays with vibrant crowds, stalls, and traditional merriment, offering a glimpse into Victorian-era leisure and regional culture. Chromolithography, the mediu...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|George S. Harris & Sons · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...