Portrait of woman, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 2) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Round): 1 9/16 × 1 9/16 in. (4 × 4 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
Burdick 218, N228.40
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with this charming *Portrait of a Woman* from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's Novelties series (N, Type 2), produced in 1889. This petite, round commercial color lithograph—measuring just 1 9/16 inches in diameter—was tucked into cigarette packages as a promotional insert, enticing smokers and sparking a collecting frenzy among children and adults alike. Kinney Bros., a prominent American tobacco firm, issued these "novelties" to boost brand loyalty during the late Victorian era, when trade cards became everyday treasures. Crafted via ...
About the Artist
Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011
**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...