Peter Cooper, from the series Great Americans (N76) for Duke brand 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
63.350.204.76.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with this petite chromolithograph, *Peter Cooper, from the Great Americans (N76, produced in 1888 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. for their Duke cigarettes. Measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, this colorful trading card was tucked into cigarette packs as a clever marketing ploy, encouraging collectors to buy more for the full set honoring notable figures. Chromolithography, a pioneering color printing technique, allowed for vivid, mass-produced images that brought historical heroes to life affordably. Peter Cooper (1791–1883), the celebrated ...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 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...