Petita, from the Ballet Queens series (N182) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
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
63.350.216.182.47
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the glittering world of 19th-century ballet with *Petita, from the Ballet Queens series (N182)*, a charming commercial color lithograph produced by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. in 1889. This petite print, measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, captures the grace of its titular dancer amid a vogue for ballerinas as cultural icons. Issued as part of a collectible series tucked into cigarette packs, it reflects the era's booming tobacco trade, where companies like Kimball enticed smokers—and avid collectors—with vibrant ephemera celebrating feminine elegance and performance art. Chromolithography, the...
About the Artist
William S. Kimball & Company
**William S. Kimball & Company**, a pioneering American tobacco manufacturer, was established in 1846 in Rochester, New York, by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart. The firm quickly grew into one of the city's largest employers, particularly of women, producing popular brands like Peerless chewing tobacco, Rigatta and Fireside smoking tobacco, and Vanity Fair cigarettes. Under Kimball's leadersh...