Trade Card
19th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 8 11/16 × 11 7/8 in. (22 × 30.2 cm) Plate: 4 5/8 × 5 13/16 in. (11.7 × 14.7 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Bella C. Landauer, 1926
Accession Number
26.28.312
Art Historical Context
This charming 19th-century British trade card exemplifies the vibrant world of Victorian advertising ephemera. Produced anonymously during an era of rapid industrialization and burgeoning consumer culture, trade cards were small, collectible promotional items distributed by to advertise goods like soaps, foods, and patent medicines. Often exchanged with purchases or mailed to households, they transformed everyday commerce into pocket-sized art, blending marketing savvy with visual appeal and fueling a popular collecting craze among Victorians. Crafted as an engraving—a meticulous intaglio pri...