Spain, from the National Flags series (N195) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 4 1/4 × 2 9/16 in. (10.8 × 6.5 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
63.350.216.195.29
Tags
Art Historical Context
This colorful commercial lithograph depicts the flag of Spain as part of the National Flags series (N195), issued in 1891 by Wm. S. Kimball & Company, a Rochester-based tobacco firm. Measuring just over four by two-and-a-half inches, the small sheet was originally a trade card distributed with cigarette packs, a common marketing practice in the late nineteenth century. Such cards encouraged collectors to assemble complete sets of national symbols, reflecting Americans’ growing curiosity about the wider world during an era of expanding global trade and immigration. Color lithography made these...
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...