Mallard Duck, from the Game Birds series (N13) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 in. (3.8 x 7 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
63.350.201.13.30
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Mallard Duck* from Allen & Ginter's Game series (N13), a charming 1889 commercial color lithograph. Produced by the pioneering cigarette company Allen & Ginter in collaboration with printers George S. Harris &, this tiny card (just 1 1/2 x 2 3/4 inches) was inserted into cigarette packs to entice collectors and boost sales. Part of a popular trend in trade cards, it captures the majestic mallard in vivid detail—its iridescent green head gleaming against a naturalistic backdrop—celebrating the allure of game birds in Victorian-era hu...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|George S. Harris & Sons
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...