Caricatured Burmese figure, 1/8 Rupee, from the series Coins of All Nations (N72, variation 2) for Duke brand cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with this tiny gem: a commercial color lithograph titled *Caricatured Burmese figure 1/8 Rupee*, from W. Duke, Sons &.'s *Coins of All Nations* seriesN72, variation 2), produced in 1889. Measuring just 2¾ x 1½ inches, this ephemera was tucked into Duke brand cigarette packs as a collectible trading card, enticing smokers—often young collectors—with exotic imagery from around the globe. Duke, a pioneering American tobacco firm, revolutionized marketing by bundling these cards, boosting brand loyalty amid fierce industry competition. Chromolithography, the medium here, brought vivid colors and fine details to mass production, mimicking hand-painted art affordably. This card caricatures a Burmese coin figure, blending numismatic accuracy with playful exaggeration to evoke colonial-era fascination with distant cultures. Such depictions reflect the era's Orientalist lens, where Western audiences devoured stylized "foreign" motifs. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, thanks to the Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, it highlights ephemera's artistic merit. A snapshot of Gilded Age commerce and curiosity, it reminds us how everyday objects captured the world's diversity—or at least a caricatured version of it.

About the Artist

W. Duke, Sons & Co. · 1870–1920

**W. Duke, Sons & Co.: Pioneers of Chromolithographic Trade Card Art** W. Duke, Sons & Co., an American tobacco manufacturer, emerged from the entrepreneurial vision of Washington Duke (1820–1905) and his sons in Durham, North Carolina. After the Civil War, Washington abandoned farming in 1874 to join his eldest son, Brodie L. Duke, in the burgeoning tobacco trade, establishing a factory that for...