Trade Card with Royal Coat of Arms
19th century
Medium
Engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 13/16 × 4 1/8 in. (14.8 × 10.4 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1949
Accession Number
49.6.9
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th British commerce with this enchanting *Trade Card with Royal Coat of Arms*, anonymous engraving from the Metropolitan Museum of's Elisha Whittelsey Collection. Measuring a compact 5 13/16 × 4 1/8 inches, this delicate print exemplifies ephemera—those everyday printed treasures that once fluttered from shop counters into eager hands. Trade cards like this were promotional gems, distributed by businesses to advertise goods, often collected like trading cards by enthusiasts. The card's centerpiece, the majestic Royal Coat of Arms, underscores its cultural pres...