Three Hearts (red), from the Playing Cards series (N84) for Duke brand cigarettes
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
63.350.204.84.17
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *Three Hearts (red)* a charming chromolithograph from the Playing Cards series (N84 produced by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in 1888. This petite card, measuring just 2 /4 x 1 1/2 inches, depicts three bold red hearts in a classic playing card design, tucked into cigarette packs as a promotional insert. Duke, a leading tobacco firm based in Durham, North Carolina, pioneered these collectible "trade cards" to entice smokers and spark a collecting craze among enthusiasts of all ages. Chromolithography, the medium here, was a breakthro...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 1870–1920
**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...