Orr, Batter, Metropolitans, New York, from the Gold Coin series (N284) for Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph reproducing drawing
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/16 x 1 3/4 in. (7.7 x 4.5 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
63.350.222.284.72
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming 1887 color lithograph captures Orr, a batter for New York’s Metropolitans baseball team, as part of the Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco series issued by D. Buchner & Co. Measuring just over three by one-and-three-quarter inches, the small card was designed for everyday distribution with tobacco products, turning a simple advertisement into a collectible keepsake. The commercial lithographic technique allowed for bright, affordable color reproduction of an original drawing, making such images widely accessible to fans and smokers alike. In the late nineteenth century, baseball’s rising...
About the Artist
D. Buchner & Co., New York · 1850–1900
D. Buchner & Co. was a New York-based tobacco manufacturer prominent in the American market during the 1880s, best known today for its Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco brand and the vivid trade cards the company inserted into its product packaging to drive consumer loyalty. The firm was one of numerous tobacco companies that, during the boom years of American commercial printing, recognized the marketing...