Dorothy Dene in Colors of Columbia Yacht Club, from the Yacht Colors of the World series (N140) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 1890s advertising with *Dorothy Dene in of Columbia Yacht Club*, a charming commercial color lithograph from W. Duke, Sons & Co.'s *Yacht Colors of the* series (N140). Issued to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco, this print—measuring just 4 × 2½ inches—exemplifies the era's clever marketing ephemera. Tobacco companies distributed these collectible cards to entice smokers, blending luxury leisure like yachting with eye-catching portraits of elegant women draped in club burgees and flags. Dorothy Dene, the striking subject, was a renowned English actress and artist's model, often immortalized in Pre-Raphaelite works. Here, she embodies the Columbia Yacht Club's colors, highlighting the sport's growing prestige among America's elite. The series captured international yacht clubs, turning nautical symbols into fashionable icons and reflecting Gilded Age obsessions with sailing, status, and global exploration. Produced via chromolithography—a breakthrough technique for affordable, vivid color printing—this piece showcases commercial art's artistry. Now preserved in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, it offers a window into how everyday promotions preserved cultural snapshots, from women's evolving imagery to the thrill of the sea.

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...