Florence St. John as "The Pansy," from the series Fancy Dress Ball Costumes (N73) 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
63.350.204.73.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the glittering world of late Victorian theater with this charming chromolithograph from 1889, featuring actress Florence St. John "The Pansy" the Fancy Dress Ball Costumes series (N73 Produced by W. Duke Sons & Co. in collaboration with Knapp & Company, this tiny commercial color lithograph—measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches—was a promotional insert for Duke brand cigarettes. Capturing St. John in elaborate floral costume, it evokes the era's lavish fancy dress balls, where theater stars dazzled in whimsical disguises inspired by flowers, history, and fantasy. Chromolithography, a pionee...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Knapp & Company · 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...