Miss Diana, from the Actresses series (N190) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 1/2 × 1 5/16 in. (6.3 × 3.3 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
63.350.216.190.6
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of late 19th-century advertising with *Miss Diana, from theresses series (N190)*, a charming commercial lithograph produced by Wm. S. Kimball &. in 1889. This petite print (just 2½ × 1⅜ inches) captures the elegant profile of the actress "Miss Diana," one of many celebrated performers immortalized in Kimball's popular tobacco insert series. Tobacco companies like Kimball cleverly used these cards as promotional giveaways, tucked into cigarette packages to entice collectors and boost sales during America's Gilded Age. Lithography, the medium here, revolutionized mas...
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...