Phillip Casey, Champion Handball Player, from the Champions of Games and Sports series (N184, Type 2) issued by W.S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 in. (6.8 × 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
63.350.216.184.74
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th sports fandom with *Phillip Casey, Champion Handball Player*, a gem from the *Champions Games and Sports* seriesN184, Type 2), issued by W.S Kimball & Co. in1887. This petite commercial color lithograph, just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches, captures the athletic prowess of Phillip Casey, a celebrated handball. Produced by the tobacco company as promotional inserts in cigarette packs, these cards turned everyday smokers into collectors, sparking a craze for trading images of sports heroes. Lithography, a revolutionary printing technique of the era, enabled the mass ...
About the Artist
W.S. Kimball & Co.
William S. Kimball & Co. was a tobacco manufacturer based in Rochester, New York, whose influence extended well beyond the cigarette trade into the realm of popular visual culture. Founded in 1846 by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart, the company grew into one of the largest tobacco concerns in the United States, erecting a landmark factory along the Erie Canal on Court Street in 1880. The buil...