Arabia, from the Dancing Girls of the World series (N185) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Arabia, from the Girls of the World seriesN185)*, a petite commercial color lithograph produced William S. Kimball & Company in 1889. Issued as a trade card by the Rochester-based tobacco firm, this card was one of many in a popular series featuring exoticized depictions of women dancers from around the globe. Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 1/2 inches, it was designed for collectors, tucked into cigarette packs to entice buyers and spark a collecting craze. Chromolithography, the medium here, brought this image to life with bold, layered colors—a technical marvel of the era that made mass-produced prints rival fine art in vibrancy. The portrayal of an Arabian dancer reflects the era's Orientalist fascination, blending fantasy with cultural stereotypes to captivate American audiences hungry for tales of far-off lands. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this ephemera highlights how everyday commerce fueled artistic innovation and global curiosity. A tiny window into Gilded Age consumer culture, it reminds us how art danced into our pockets.

About the Artist

William S. Kimball & Company · 1850–1950

**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...