New Zealand Parrot, from Birds of the Tropics series (N38) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 in. (7.3 x 8.3 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
63.350.202.38.23
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the vibrant *New Zealand Parrot* the *Birds of Tropics* series (38), a delightful 1889 commercial color lithograph produced by Allen & Ginter collaboration with George S. Harris & Sons Measuring just 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches, this petite print was designed as a collectible trading card tucked into cigarette packs, enticing smokers with exotic avian imagery during the Gilded Age. Chromolithography, the era's cutting-edge technique, enabled the mass production of these vivid, multi-layered color prints, capturing the parrot's iridescent feathers with remarkable detail and realism. Allen & Gi...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|George S. Harris & Sons
Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...