Order of the Black Eagle, Prussia, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal 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
Burdick 218, N224.626
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking small-scale print, titled *Order of the Black Eagle, Prussia*, comes from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company’s Military Series (N224), issued in 1888 to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Produced as a commercial color lithograph measuring just 2¾ by 1½ inches, the card was one of many collectible inserts placed inside cigarette packages. Such ephemera encouraged customers to save complete sets while showcasing military insignia and honors from around the world. The subject depicts Prussia’s highest chivalric order, founded in 1701 and reserved for royalty and distinguished military...
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...