Jack of Spades (black), from the Playing Cards series (N84) 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
63.350.204.84.51
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Jack of Spades (black)*, a gem from the Playing Cards series (N84) produced by W. Duke, Sons &. in 1888. This tiny commercial color lithograph, measuring just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches, was tucked into packs of Duke brand cigarettes as a collectible insert. Tobacco magnate James B. Duke revolutionized the industry by pioneering machine-rolled cigarettes and bundling them with these eye-catching cards, sparking a collecting craze among smokers and turning everyday ephemera into treasured keepsakes. Crafted via chromolithography—a cutting...
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...