Assagai, from the Arms of All Nations series (N3) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Assagai, from Arms of All Nations seriesN3)*, a tiny yet captivating commercial color lithograph by the pioneering tobacco company Allen & Ginter in1887. This pocket-sized card (just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches) was one of many inserted into cigarette packs, sparking a collecting craze among smokers and turning everyday purchases into treasures. Allen & Ginter, innovators in the trade card boom, used these inserts to promote their brands while showcasing global curiosities, blending commerce with armchair education on world cultures. The artwork depicts an assagai—a short, light spear iconic to Zulu warriors of southern Africa—alongside shields and male figures, evoking the martial traditions of distant lands. Rendered in chromolithography, a revolutionary color printing technique that allowed vivid, multi-hued reproductions at scale, it exemplifies the era's fusion of artistry and mass production. These cards democratized exotic imagery, fostering fascination with imperial-era ethnography right at your fingertips. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this ephemera highlights how everyday objects captured history's pulse, bridging consumer culture and global heritage in a single, striking glance.

About the Artist

Allen & Ginter

Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...