Helena Dacre in Colors of the Eastern 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 *Helena Dacre in of the Eastern 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, petite print—measuring just 4 × 2½ inches—was likely tucked into cigarette packages as a collectible insert, sparking a craze among enthusiasts for its vivid depictions of international yacht club burgees and flags. The elegant profile of a woman, paired with the Eastern Yacht Club's distinctive colors, evokes the glamour of Gilded Age yachting, an elite pastime symbolizing speed, leisure, and national pride. Chromolithography, the era's cutting-edge technique, allowed for bold, multi-layered colors on paper, transforming everyday ephemera into miniature artworks. Duke's series captured the nautical zeitgeist, blending sport, fashion, and commerce—women's profiles often personified yacht names, bridging gender and maritime culture in a time when sailing clubs were bastions of high society. Today, this gem from The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art highlights how tobacco giants fueled popular collecting hobbies, preserving slices of 19th-century life in the Prints and Drawings department. A tiny window into big dreams!

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...