Penfield Reef, from the Lighthouses series (N119) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Irregular): 2 3/8 × 4 1/16 in. (6 × 10.3 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
63.350.206.119.24
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming small-scale print, *Penfield Reef*, belongs to the Lighthouses series (N119) issued in 1889 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco. Produced as a commercial color lithograph measuring just over two by four inches, the card was designed as an affordable collectible that smokers could save or trade. The tiny format and bright, eye-catching hues made it easy to distribute widely while turning everyday tobacco packaging into an engaging visual experience. Color lithography, perfected in the late nineteenth century, allowed companies like Duke to reproduce detailed...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|The Giles Company · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...