Gendarme, from the Occupations of Women series (N502) for Frishmuth's Tobacco Company
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
63.350.226.502.8
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Gendarme*, a commercial color lithograph from Frishmuth's Tobacco *Occupations of Women* (N502), produced in 1889. This tiny ephemera piece, measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, depicts a poised woman in the uniform of a gendarme—a police officer—complete with firearms, blending whimsy with a nod to emerging ideas about women's roles. Part of a popular collectible series, these cards were tucked into tobacco packages to entice buyers and spark collecting fervor, much like modern trading cards. Crafted via chromolithography, a pioneering ...