Seated woman with bird on shoulder (on white silk), from the Girl Art Subjects series (N193) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial lithograph printed on silk
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 1/2 × 2 7/8 in. (13.9 × 7.3 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
63.350.216.193.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
This charming lithograph, *Seated Woman with Bird on Shoulder (on white silk)*, hails from the "Girl Art Subjects" seriesN193), produced around 1890 by William S. Kimball & Company a prominent American tobacco firm, in collaboration with The Photo-Grure Company. Measuring just 5½ × 2⅞ inches, this petite print was likely distributed as a premium insert in cigarette packages—a popular marketing tactic of the era to entice collectors and boost sales. The intimate portrait depicts a poised woman with a bird perched gracefully on her shoulder, evoking Victorian ideals of feminine beauty, elegance,...
About the Artist
William S. Kimball & Company|The Photo-Gravure 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...