Painting easel, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 5) issued by Kinney Bros.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century American advertising with *Painting Easel* from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's Novelties series (228, Type 5), a diminutive commercial color lithograph in 1889. Measuring just 2 7/8 × 1 9/16 inches, this ephemera likely served as a collectible insert tobacco products, captivating smokers and children alike with its charming depiction—suggested by tags of women's profiles, perhaps evoking the artistic pursuits of the era. Lithography, a revolutionary printing technique, enabled the mass production of vivid, multi-colored images on a budget, transforming everyday promotions into miniature artworks. Kinney Bros., a prominent tobacco firm, leveraged this to build brand loyalty through novelty series like this one, blending whimsy with commerce in an age when trade cards were cultural staples, traded like modern trading cards. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department as part of the Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this piece highlights the intersection of art and consumer culture. It offers a glimpse into Gilded Age ingenuity, where even a simple easel motif could spark imagination and preserve fleeting moments of Victorian leisure.

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...