Kate Uart, Corsair Co., from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes
ca. 1888
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 3/8 in. (7 x 3.5 cm)
Classification
Photographs|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
63.350.203.45.566
Tags
Art Historical Context
This petite albumen photograph, titledKate Uart, Cors Co.*, captures the poised likeness of a late-19th-century actress from theair Company, part of Allen & Ginter's celebratedActors and Actresses* series (N45, Type 1). Issued around 1888 to promote Virginia Brights Cig, the 2 3/4 x 1 3/8-inch card exemplifies the era's trade card craze—tiny, collectible inserts tucked into cigarette packs that turned everyday smoking into a gateway for celebrity fandom and album-building. Albumen prints, made by coating paper with egg whites sensitized with silver salts, delivered the sharp detail and warm t...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter
Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...