Sea Girt, 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
63.350.216.187.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
**Sea Girt, from the Fancy Bathers seriesN187)** Issued in 1889 by William S. Kimball & Company a prominent Rochester, New York-based tobacco firm, *Sea Girt* is a delicate commercial color lithograph from collectible Fancy Bathers series. Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches, this tiny print exemplifies the ephemera of the Gilded Age, when companies bundled vibrant trade cards with cigarettes to entice collectors and boost sales. The series (cataloged as N187) featured elegant profiles of women in fanciful bathing scenes, evoking seaside leisure and Victorian ideals of beauty. Lithograph...
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...