Maharana of Oudeypoor, India, 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
63.350.216.189.30
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vivid world of 19th-century ephemera with *Maharana of Oudeypoor, India*, a petite commercial color lithograph from1888. Produced by William S. Kimball & Company—a prominent American tobacco firm—this tiny print (just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches) belongs to the "Savage and Semi-Barbarous Chiefs and Rulers" series (N189). Likely distributed as collectible inserts in cigarette packs, it captures the regal portrait of the Maharana, ruler of Udaipur (then spelled Oudeypoor) in Rajasthan, India. Such cards reflected the era's fascination with exotic global leaders amid British colonial exp...
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...