M'lle Rita, from the Actresses series (N245) issued by Kinney Brothers to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes
Medium
Albumen photograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 1/2 × 1 7/16 in. (6.4 × 3.7 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
63.350.220.245.1539
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the glamorous world of 1890s advertising with *M'lle Rita, from the Actresses series (245)*, a petite albumen photograph produced by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company promote their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes This tiny card (just 2 1/2 × 1 7/16 inches) captures the poised portrait of M'lle, a celebrated actress, embodying the era's fascination with stage stars. Issued as collectible ephemera, it was part of a popular series that traded on the allure of theater luminaries to entice smokers and hobbyists alike. Albumen prints, the dominant photographic medium of the time, lent these cards ...
About the Artist
Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011
**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...