Genevieve Lytton as "The Kite," 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
63.350.204.73.15
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of late 19th-century advertising with *Genevieve Lytton as "The Kite," a charming commercial color lithograph from1889. Produced by. Duke, Sons & Co. in collaboration with Knapp & Company, this tiny print (just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches) is part of the Fancy Dress Ball Costumes seriesN73), a set of collectible cards inserted into Duke brand cigarette packs. It captures actress Genevieve Lytton an elaborate costume inspired by a kite, evoking the theatrical flair of Gilded Age fancy dress balls where revelers donned whimsical, fantastical attire. Chromolithography, the m...
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...