Sewing box, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 3) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 1 5/16 × 2 3/4 in. (3.4 × 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, N228.144
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with this charming *Sewing box* from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's *Novelties series (228, Type 3)*, issued in 1889. This petite commercial color lithograph, measuring just 1 5/16 × 2 3/4 inches, depicts a decorative sewing box adorned delicate flowers—a nod to Victorianity and the era's fascination with sewing as a genteel pastime for women. Produced by the prominent New York tobacco firm, it as a promotional insert in cigarette packs, enticing smokers while appealing to collectors with its whimsical novelty theme. Chromolithography...
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...