Moss Rose: Confession of Love, from the series Floral Beauties and Language of Flowers (N75) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 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
63.350.204.75.46
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming 1892 commercial color lithograph, titled *Moss Rose: Confession of Love*, was created by the Donaldson Brothers for the American Company as part of the “Floral Beauties and Language of Flowers” series (N75) issued with Duke brand cigarettes. Measuring 2¾ by inches, the tiny card was designed to be collected from cigarette packs, blending advertising with the popular Victorian pastime of floriography—the symbolic “language of flowers.” In this visual code, the moss rose conveyed a tender “confession of love,” pairing delicate blooms with an elegant female figure. Such trade card...
About the Artist
Donaldson Brothers|American Tobacco Company (American| ) · 1850 | –1870 |
American, New York|