James Fenimore Cooper, from the series Great Americans (N76) for Duke brand cigarettes
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
63.350.204.76.8
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the world of 19th-century advertising with this petite commercial color lithograph from1888, featuring the author James Fenimore Cooper part of the "Great Americans (N76 series by W. Duke Sons & Co. Measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, this tiny print was designed to slip inside Duke cigarette packs, transforming everyday tobacco products into collectible treasures. Cooper, celebrated for novels like *The Last of Mohicans*, embodies the era's fascination with national heroes, making him a perfect subject for this promotional homage. Produced via color lithography—a revolutionary technique...
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...