Saint Malo, from the Fancy Bathers series (N187) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 in. (6.9 × 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
63.350.216.187.28
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Saint Malo, from Fancy Bathers series (187)*, a charming commercial color lithograph produced by William S. Kimball & Company in 1889. This card (just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches) captures the allure of seaside leisure, likely depicting elegant women in bathing attire at the fashionable French resort of Saint-Malo. Issued as part of a popular tobacco company's promotional series, these "Fancy Bathers" were collectibles tucked into cigarette packs, blending escapism with brand marketing during the Gilded Age. Chromolithography, the mediu...
About the Artist
William S. Kimball & Company
**William S. Kimball & Company**, a pioneering American tobacco manufacturer, was established in 1846 in Rochester, New York, by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart. The firm quickly grew into one of the city's largest employers, particularly of women, producing popular brands like Peerless chewing tobacco, Rigatta and Fireside smoking tobacco, and Vanity Fair cigarettes. Under Kimball's leadersh...