White Violet: Candor, from the series Floral Beauties and Language of Flowers (N75) for Duke brand cigarettes
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 2 3/4 × 1 1/2 in. (7 × 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
63.350.204.75.23
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *White Violet: Candor a delicate chromolithograph from the 1892 *Floral Beauties and Language of* series (N75), produced by the Donaldson Brothers for the American Company's Duke brand cigarettes. Measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, this tiny print was likely tucked into cigarette packs as a collectible insert, enticing smokers—especially men—to save and trade them like modern trading cards. The image blends floral elegance with Victorian floriography, where the white violet symbolizes "candor," or sincere honesty, often personified throu...
About the Artist
Donaldson Brothers|American Tobacco Company (American| ) · 1850 | –1870 |
American, New York|