Twin Lights, Navesink Highlands, New Jersey, from the Lighthouses series (N119) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Irregular): 2 3/8 in. × 4 in. (6.1 × 10.2 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
63.350.206.119.14
Tags
Art Historical Context
Welcome to the Metropolitan Museum of's Drawings and Prints department, where we spotlight "Twin Lights, Naves Highlands, New Jersey," charming 1889 commercial color lithograph from W. Duke, Sons & Co.'s Lighthouses series (N). Produced by The Giles Company to promote Honest Cut Tobacco, this petite ephemera—measuring just 2 3/8 × 4 inches—depicts the iconic twin lighthouse towers perched on New Jersey's rugged cliffs, guiding mariners along the Atlantic coast since the early 19th century. Chromolithography, the era's vibrant printing technique, brought these small-scale trading cards to life...
About the Artist
W. Duke, Sons & Co.|The Giles Company · 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...