Irish Jig, from National Dances (N225, Type 1) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 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
Burdick 218, N225.37
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the lively world of 19th-century American advertising with *Irish Jig, from Dances (N225, Type 1)*, a vibrant commercial color lithograph issued by theney Brothers Tobacco Company in1889. This petite card, measuring just 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 inches, captures male dancers in profile mid-step, their energetic poses evoking the spirited footwork of the traditional Irish jig. Produced as part of a popular series celebrating folk dances from around the world, it exemplifiesolithography—a revolutionary printing using multiple lithographic stones to layer vivid colors affordably for mass productio...
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...