Five Spades (black), from the Playing Cards series (N84) for Duke brand cigarettes

Art Historical Context

In the late 19th century, American tobacco companies like W. Duke Sons & Co. pioneered marketing by inserting collectible cards into cigarette packs, transforming everyday products into cultural phenomena. *Five Spades (black)*, from the 1888 Playing Cards series (N84 exemplifies this era's ephemera. Produced for Duke's popular brand, this petite chromolithograph depicts a stark black spade symbol on a card face, evoking the timeless allure of gambling and games while subtly promoting the product. Printed via color lithography—a revolutionary technique allowing vibrant, mass-produced images on a tiny 2¾ x 1½-inch sheet—this commercial print showcases the precision of the process. Chromolithography layered inks to mimic paintings affordably, making high-quality visuals accessible and fueling a collecting craze among adults and children alike. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this card highlights the intersection of commerce, design, and popular culture. Duke's cards, precursors to modern trading cards, democratized art and sparked hobbies that persisted into the 20th century, offering a window into Gilded Age advertising ingenuity.

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...