King of Servia, from World's Sovereigns series (N34) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
1889
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
63.350.202.34.42
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *King of Servia, from World's Sovereigns seriesN34) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes*1889). Produced by the pioneering American tobacco firm Allen & G, this petite commercial color lithograph—measuring just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches—was one of many trading cards inserted into cigarette packs to entice collectors. Part of a series celebrating global monarchs, it captures the King of Servia (an archaic spelling of Serbia) in regal portraiture, adorned with insignia that evoke royal splendor and national pride. Chromolithography, the medium he...
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...