Val Andre, from the Fancy Bathers series (N187) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 in. (6.9 × 3.8 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
63.350.216.187.35
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th American advertising with *Val Andre* from the *Fancyathers* series (N), issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. in 1889. This petite commercial color lithograph captures stylish profile of a woman,oking the leisurely allure of seaside bathing culture during the Gilded Age. Produced by a Rochester, New York-based tobacco, it was one of many collectible inserts tucked into cigarette packages to entice smokers and spark a trading frenzy among enthusiasts. Chromolithography, the era's breakthrough printing technique, allowed for vivid, mass-produced colors on a tiny sc...
About the Artist
William S. Kimball & Company
**William S. Kimball & Company**, a pioneering American tobacco manufacturer, was established in 1846 in Rochester, New York, by William S. Kimball and James C. Hart. The firm quickly grew into one of the city's largest employers, particularly of women, producing popular brands like Peerless chewing tobacco, Rigatta and Fireside smoking tobacco, and Vanity Fair cigarettes. Under Kimball's leadersh...