Jindee Shah, Kamit Peer Baba, Afghanistan, from the Savage and Semi-Barbarous Chiefs and Rulers series (N189) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 in. (6.8 × 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
63.350.216.189.49
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, tobacco companies like Wm.. Kimball & Co. colorful trading cards to promote their cigarettes, enticing collectors with exotic imagery. This petite chromolithograph, *Jindee Shah, Kamit Peer Baba, Afghanistan from the 1888 "Savage and Semi-Barous Chiefs and Rulers (N189)," captures a portrait of an Afghan leader—likely a local ruler or figure, given the honorific "Peer Baba," evoking a Sufi saint. Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches, it was designed as an insert in cigarette packs, transforming everyday smoking into a gateway for armchair exploration of distant lands...
About the Artist
William S. Kimball & Company
**William S. Kimball & Company**, a pioneering American tobacco manufacturer, was established in 1846 in Rochester, New York, by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart. The firm quickly grew into one of the city's largest employers, particularly of women, producing popular brands like Peerless chewing tobacco, Rigatta and Fireside smoking tobacco, and Vanity Fair cigarettes. Under Kimball's leadersh...