Zulu, Woman Messenger, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Folded): 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 in. (6.8 × 3.7 cm) Sheet (Unfolded): 6 7/8 × 1 7/16 in. (17.4 × 3.7 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
Burdick 218, N240.73
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Zulu, Woman Messenger a colorful chromolithograph from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's "Types of Nationalities" (N240). These cards, measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 inches when folded, were tucked into cigarette packs as collectible premiums to entice smokers and spark a trading frenzy. Produced in the United States, the series captured global "types" through stylized portraits, reflecting the era's booming tobacco industry and public fascination with distant cultures amid European imperialism and world's fairs. Crafted via commercial c...
About the Artist
Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011
**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...