Monocle and Eye (blue), from Jocular Ocular series (N221) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 1/2 × 1 1/2 in. (3.8 × 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
Burdick 218, N221.18
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the whimsical world of 19th-century advertising with *Monocle and Eyeblue)*, a delightful piece from the *Jocular Ocular* (N221), produced by the Kinney Brothers Company in 1889 This tiny chromolithograph captures a playful blue eye peering through a monocle, embodying the humorous spirit of the series, which featured eye-themed vignettes to entertain collectors. Issued as inserts in cigarette packages, these cards were part of a booming trend in tobacco marketing, turning everyday products into coveted collectibles during America's Gilded Age. Crafted as a commercial color lithogra...
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...