Pile Game Hen, from the Prize and Game Chickens series (N20) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 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
63.350.201.20.32
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Pile Game Hen*, a charming chromolithograph from the *Prize and Game Chickens series (N20), by Allen & Ginterarettes in 1891. Produced by The Gast Lithograph & Engr Company, this tiny gem measures just 2¾ × 1½ inches, designed as a collectible insert tucked into cigarette packs to captivate smokers and boost brand loyalty. Chromolithography, a pioneering color printing technique, allowed for the vivid depiction of the Pile Game Hen—a feisty breed prized in the era's cockfighting culture and poultry fancying. These cards captured th...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|The Gast Lithograph & Engraving Company
Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...