Roman Soldier, Infantry, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 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
Burdick 218, N224.500
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Roman Soldier, Infantry* from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's Military Series (N224). in 1888 to promote their popular Sweet Caporal Cig, this petite chromolithograph captures a stoic Roman legionary in full regalia—shield, helmet, and spear at the ready. At just 2¾ × 1½ inches, it was designed as an insert for cigarette packs, enticing collectors (mostly men) with historical military heroes from ancient Rome to modern eras. Chromolithography, the era's breakthrough in color printing, allowed mass production of these vivid, affor...
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...