Tumblers and Bells, from the Musical Instruments series (N121) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 1/2 × 4 1/16 in. (6.4 × 10.3 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
63.350.206.121.19
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, American tobacco companies like W. Duke, Sons & Co. revolutionized advertising by distributing colorful trade cards inside cigarette packages or as promotional inserts. *Tumblers and Bells from their 1888 Musical Instruments series (N121 promoting Honest Long Cut Tobacco exemplifies this innovative marketing. Produced by lithographers Schumacher & Ettlinger this petite chromolithograph—measuring just 2½ × 4⅛ inches—features women with gleaming tumblers and bells, blending musical motifs with the era's fascination for elegant, feminine imagery to appeal to consumers. ...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Schumacher & Ettlinger · 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...