Firescreen with Japanese design, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 3) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Round): 1 9/16 × 1 9/16 in. (4 × 4 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, N228.85
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delightful little firescreen, titled *Firescreen with Japanese design* from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's Novelties series (N, Type 3), the whimsical spirit of 1889 advertising ephemera. Produced as a promotional insert for cigarette packs, this tiny round chromolithograph—measuring just 1 9/16 inches acrossexemplifies how tobacco companies like Kinney Bros. enticed collectors with colorful, novelty cards. Chromolithography, a pioneering color printing technique, allowed for vibrant, mass-produced images that rivaled fine art in hue and detail, making luxury motifs accessible to every...
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...