Mary Anderson in Colors of New Brunswick 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 19th-century advertising with *Mary Anderson in Colors of New Brunswick Yacht Club*, a charming commercial color lithograph from the *Yacht Colors of the World* series (N140). Produced in 1890 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., this pocket-sized print (4 × 2½ inches) was issued to promote their Honest Long Cut Tobacco. Likely depicting the yacht *Mary Anderson* adorned in the distinctive colors of the New Brunswick Yacht Club, it captures the era's fascination with nautical leisure and global yachting culture. Chromolithography, the medium here, was a breakthrough technique allowing vivid, multi-layered colors on inexpensive paper—perfect for trade cards tucked into tobacco packages. These ephemera were highly collectible, appealing to enthusiasts who traded them like modern trading cards, reflecting the booming popularity of yacht clubs among the affluent. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this piece highlights how commerce intertwined with sport and portraiture. Its tags—Portraits, Women—evoke a sense of elegance, perhaps nodding to the actress Mary Anderson or a feminine yacht namesake, offering a glimpse into Gilded Age promotional artistry.

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...