McKee Rankin in Bridegroom's Costume of Saille, France, from the set Actors and Actresses, First Series (N70) for Duke brand cigarettes

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of19th-century theater and advertising with this charming commercial color lithograph, *McKee Rankin in Bride's Costume of Saille France*, from the *Actors and Actresses, Series (N70)* by W. Duke, Sons & Co. and printed by Knapp & Company around 1888–89. At just 2¾ × 1½ inches, this tiny card captures the dashing actor McKee Rankin in elaborate French bridal costume, highlighting his star power during the Gilded Age when live performance was America's premier entertainment. Produced as promotional inserts for Duke brand cigarettes, these ephemera cards were part of a popular trend where tobacco companies collected celebrity portraits to boost sales and foster collector hobbies. Chromolithography, the medium here, allowed for vivid, mass-produced color printing, making high-quality images affordable and widespread. Today, preserved in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, it exemplifies how everyday advertising bridged popular culture and fine art collecting. This piece offers a window into late Victorian fascination with actors as cultural icons, blending fashion, drama, and commerce in a format once discarded but now treasured for its historical snapshot.

About the Artist

W. Duke, Sons & Co.|Knapp & Company · 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...