Narragansett, Rhode Island, from the Surf Beauties series (N232), issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 1/2 × 2 3/4 in. (3.8 × 7 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, N232.35
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Narragansett, Rhode*, a charming chromolithograph from the Surfies series (N232), issued by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company in 1889. This petite print, measuring just 1 1/2 × 2 3/4 inches, captures a poised woman against a seaside backdrop, embodying the era's idealized vision of leisure and beauty. Produced as promotional ephemera—likely a trade or cigarette card—it's a testament to how tobacco companies enticed collectors with colorful series featuring glamorous "surf beauties" at American beaches. Chromolithography, the medium h...
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...