Egyptian, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Egyptian, from Types of NationalitiesN240)*, a commercial color lithograph produced by the Kinney Brothers Company in 1890 This petite ephemera—measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 inches when folded—was designed as a collectible insert for cigarette packs, part of a popular series depicting stereotypical "types" from various nationalities. The tags hint at its subject: a man, likely an Egyptian figure, engaged in smoking, capturing the era's fascination with exoticism and global cultures. Chromolithography, the medium here, revolutionized mass printing by layering vibrant colors through multiple lithographic stones, allowing affordable, eye-catching reproductions. Kinney Bros. leveraged this technique to boost brand loyalty, turning tobacco products into gateways for hobbyist collecting during America's Gilded Age. These cards fueled a craze similar to modern trading cards, blending commerce with cultural curiosity. Today, this piece resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department, part of The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection—a treasure trove of over 30,000 ephemera gifted in 1948. It offers a window into how everyday objects shaped perceptions of identity and leisure, reminding us of advertising's artistic flair. (198 words)

About the Artist

Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011

**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...