Mlle. Shery, 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
63.350.220.245.1674
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Mlle. Shery, from the Actresses series (N245)*, a diminutive albumen photograph produced the Kinney Brothers Tobacco to promote their Sweet Caporal Cigarettes This tiny portrait (just 2½ × 1⅞ inches) captures the alluring likeness of the actress Mlle. Shery, one of many celebrated performers featured in the series. Tobacco companies like Kinney Brothers bundled these cards with cigarette packs, sparking a collecting craze that turned everyday smokers into avid hobbyists. As ephemera from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Print...
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...