Governor General of Canada, from the Rulers, Flags, and Coats of Arms series (N126-2) issued by W. Duke, Sons & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 4 1/4 in. (7 × 10.8 cm) Sheet (folded): 2 3/4 × 1 7/16 in. (7 × 3.6 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
63.350.206.126.61
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with this petite commercial color lithograph,Governor General of Canada*, from W. Duke, Sons &.'s *Rulers, Flags, Coats of Arms* (N126-2), produced in 1888. Issued by the prominent American tobacco firm, this ephemera captures a formal portrait of the Governor Generallikely depicted as a distinguished general—flanked by national flags and a heraldic coat of arms. just 2¾ × 4¼ inches (folded even smaller for easy distribution), it was designed as a collectible insert tucked into cigarette packs, sparking a craze for trading cards among ent...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 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...