Trade Card for Curtis, Engraver
19th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 3 3/4 × 2 5/8 in. (9.5 × 6.6 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
26.28.321
Art Historical Context
Step into the world of 19th-century commerce with this charming *Trade Card for Curtis, Engraver*, anonymous engraving produced in the Victorian era. Measuring just 3 3/4 × 2 5/8 inches, this petite print served as a promotional tool for the engraver's services, blending artistry with everyday advertising. Trade cards like this were ubiquitous in Britain and America during the Industrial Revolution, distributed by businesses to showcase their work and attract customers—much like today's business cards, but often collected as souvenirs. Crafted via engraving, a meticulous intaglio technique wh...