Miss Lee, from the Actresses series (N203) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 5/8 × 1 3/8 in. (6.6 × 3.5 cm)
Classification
Ephemera|Photographs
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
63.350.216.203.224
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Miss Lee, from the Actresses series (N203, a petite commercial color lithograph produced William S. Kimball & in 1889. Issued as part of a popular series by the tobacco firm, this tiny portrait (just 2 5/8 × 1 3/8 inches) captures the allure of a celebrated actress, embodying the era's fascination with theater stars. Kimball's cards were tucked into cigarette packs, sparking a collecting frenzy among enthusiasts who traded and albumed these ephemera like treasures. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized mass printing by...
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...