Plate, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 3) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Round): 1 9/16 × 1 9/16 in. (4 × 4 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
Burdick 218, N228.80
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
This petite round plate, measuring just 1 9/16 inches across, is a vibrant commercial color lithograph fromney Brothers Tobacco Company's *Novelties* series (N228, 3), produced in 1889. a graceful profile of a woman, exemplifies the era's fascination with feminine beauty and elegance, often drawing from actresses or idealised figures popular in American culture. Chromolithography, the printing technique used here, allowed for mass production of eye-catching, multi-colored images at low cost—a boon for advertisers. Tobacco companies like Kinney Bros. inserted these cards into cigarette packs to boost brand loyalty, sparking a collecting craze among children and adults alike during the Gilded Age. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this ephemera highlights the artistry of everyday commerce. It offers a window into late 19th-century marketing ingenuity and the cultural role of such collectibles in shaping popular tastes.
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...