Sutton, 3rd Base, Boston, from the Gold Coin series (N284) for Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph reproducing drawing
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 1/16 x 1 3/4 in. (7.7 x 4.5 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
63.350.222.284.93
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1880s America with *Sutton, 3rd Base, Boston*, a charming commercial color lithograph from D. Buchner & Co. in New York. Produced in 1887 as part of the Gold Coin (N284) for Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco, tiny print (just 3 1/16 x 1 3/4 inches) captures Ezra Sutton, a star third baseman for the Boston baseball team. Likely distributed as a collectible insert in tobacco packages, it reflects the era's explosive growth in baseball fandom and innovative advertising. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized mass printing by layering colors from stone plates to...
About the Artist
D. Buchner & Co., New York · 1850–1900
D. Buchner & Co. was a New York-based tobacco manufacturer prominent in the American market during the 1880s, best known today for its Gold Coin Chewing Tobacco brand and the vivid trade cards the company inserted into its product packaging to drive consumer loyalty. The firm was one of numerous tobacco companies that, during the boom years of American commercial printing, recognized the marketing...