Queen of Diamonds (red), from the Playing Cards series (N84) for Duke brand 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
63.350.204.84.13
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th American advertising with *Queen of Diamonds (red, a charming chromolithograph from W. Duke, Sons & Co.'s Playing Cards series (N84 produced in 1888. This tiny gem, measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, was designed as a collectible insert tucked into Duke brand cigarette packs. During the fierce "cigarette wars of the 1880s, tobacco like Duke pioneered these trading cards to lure customers, sparking a collecting craze that captivated adults and children alike. Crafted via commercial color lithography—a revolutionary printing technique that allowed vivid, mass-pro...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...