De Wolf Hopper Dressed as Chinese Mandarin, from the set Actors and Actresses, Second Series (N71) for Duke brand cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American popular culture with this charming commercial color lithograph,De Wolf Hopper Dressed Chinese Mandarin*. Produced between 1888 and 1890 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. in collaboration with Knapp & Company, it forms part of the *Actors and Actresses, Series (N71)*a set of collectible inserted into Duke brand cigarette packs. Measuring just 2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inches, this tiny print captures the celebrated actor De Wolf Hopper in an elaborate costume evoking exotic theatrical fantasy, highlighting the era's fascination with stage performers and Orientalist motifs. Chromolithography, the medium here, was a revolutionary technique for mass-producing vivid, multi-colored images affordably, making high-culture figures accessible to everyday smokers. These ephemeral cards, now preserved in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, fueled a collecting craze that boosted tobacco sales and democratized celebrity imagery. They reflect Gilded Age theater's glamour, where stars like Hopper donned dramatic personas to captivate audiences in vaudeville and opera houses. Today, this print offers a window into advertising's artistry and cultural snapshots, blending commerce, performance, and printmaking innovation in a format once discarded but now treasured as historical ephemera.

About the Artist

W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Knapp & Company · 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...