Tartar, Woman of the Volga, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros.

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th advertising with *Tartar, Woman of the Volga*, a charming commercial color lithograph from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's *Types of Nationalities* (N240), issued in 1890. These petite cards, designed to be folded and tucked into cigarette packs, were collectibles that fueled a craze among smokers and enthusiasts alike. Measuring just 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 when folded (unfolding to 6 7/8 × 1 7/16 inches), this ephemera captures a stylized portrait of a Tatar woman from Russia's Volga region, evoking the era's fascination with global ethnic diversity. Chromolithography, the printing technique here, revolutionized mass production by layering vibrant colors through multiple lithographic stones, creating affordable yet eye-catching images. Kinney Bros. leveraged this to promote their tobacco brand while offering ethnographic vignettes that romanticized "exotic" peoples—part of a broader trend in Western popular culture blending commerce, curiosity, and subtle stereotyping. Today, housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department as part of The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection (a gift celebrating one man's passion for American ephemera), this card offers a window into Gilded Age consumer culture and how everyday objects documented humanity's rich tapestry. A delightful snapshot of history in your pocket!

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...