Queen of Spades (black), 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
63.350.204.84.52
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Queen of Spades ()*, a charming chromolithograph from W. Duke, Sons & Co.'s Playing Cards series (N84 produced in 1888. This tiny card, measuring just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches, was distributed inside Duke brand cigarette packs as a promotional insert, enticing smokers to collect the full set mimicking a standard deck. Embodying the era's booming tobacco industry, these ephemera cards blended everyday gaming motifs with bold commercial appeal. Crafted via commercial color lithography—a revolutionary printing technique that allowed for v...
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...