South Africa (Boer), from the Natives in Costume series (N16), Teofani Issue, for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands
ca. 1886
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 in. (7 x 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
63.350.201.16.83
Tags
About this artwork
This cigarette card depicts a South African Boer in traditional dress, part of a series documenting peoples and costumes from around the world. The small lithographic print presents an ethnographic image designed to educate consumers about global diversity while promoting tobacco products. The figure is shown in characteristic Boer clothing, representing the Dutch-descended settlers of South Africa whose culture and conflicts with British colonial power were subjects of international interest in...
About the Artist
Allen & Ginter|Teofani & Company
Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...