Portrait, from the Women's Portraits series (N198) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/4 × 2 13/16 in. (8.2 × 7.2 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
63.350.216.198.9
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming *Portrait* from the Women's Portraits seriesN198), issued by. S. Kimball &. in 1889, captures the elegance of late Victorian-era femininity. Produced as a collectible insert for tobacco products, it exemplifies the popular trend of trade cards and cigarette cards that turned everyday advertising into coveted keepsakes. William S. Kimball & Company, a prominent American tobacco firm, commissioned these small-scale prints (just 3¼ × 2⅞ inches) to appeal to collectors, blending commerce with portraiture in a time when such ephemera adorned parlors and scrapbooks across households. ...
About the Artist
William S. Kimball & Company|William Wellstood
**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...