Russian, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Folded): 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 in. (6.8 × 3.7 cm) Sheet (Unfolded): 6 7/8 × 1 7/16 in. (17.4 × 3.7 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, N240.57
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American ephemera with *Russian, from Types of NationalitiesN240)*, a commercial color lithograph produced by the Kinney Brothers Company in 1890 This petite card, measuring just 6 7/8 × 1 7/16 inches when unfolded, likely folded neatly to tuck into cigarette packages, depicts a stereotypical Russian man, capturing the era's fascination with global ethnic "types." Part of a popular trading card series (cataloged as N240), these collectibles were mass-produced to entice smokers and young collectors alike, blending advertising savvy with colorful portr...
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...