Azuvert, from the Song Birds of the World series (N23) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes

Art Historical Context

**Azuvert, from the Song Birds of the World series (N23)** This charming chromolithograph depicts Azuvert, a vibrant songbird, as part of Allen & Ginter's 1890 "Song Birds of the World" series (N23). Produced by the Philadelphia lithography firm George S. Harris & Sons, these tiny prints—measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches—were inserted into cigarette packs as collectible trading cards. At the height of the Gilded Age, tobacco companies like Allen & Ginter revolutionized marketing by bundling these colorful cards with products, sparking a collecting craze among adults and children alike. Chromolithography, the medium here, allowed for stunning, multi-color reproductions at scale, capturing the bird's intricate plumage with vivid accuracy. Part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this ephemera exemplifies how everyday commerce fueled popular education about nature. Once discarded as packaging gimmicks, these cards now highlight 19th-century lithography's role in democratizing art and ornithology, blending commercial savvy with natural history allure. (178 words)

About the Artist

Allen & Ginter|George S. Harris & Sons

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...