Rhea, from Birds of the Tropics series (N38) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 in. (7.3 x 8.3 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
63.350.202.38.33
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold the majestic rhea, a flightless giant of South America's pampas, captured in vivid detail on this petite chromolithograph from 1889. Titled *Rhea, from Birds the Tropics series (38)*, this commercial color lithograph measures just 2 7/8 x 3 1/4 inches, designed as an alluring insert for Allen & G cigarette packs. Produced by the skilled lithographers George S. & Sons, it showcases the rhea's ostrich-like form against a tropical backdrop, its feathers rendered in rich hues that pop with the precision of chromolithography—a revolutionary printing technique blending multiple stone plates f...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|George S. Harris & Sons
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...