Tartary, from the Natives in Costume series (N16), Teofani Issue, for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands

Art Historical Context

This small commercial color lithograph, titled *Tartary*, to the “Natives in Costume” series (N16) issued around 1886 by Teofani & Company for the American firm Allen & Ginter. Measuring just 2¾ by 1½ inches, the card was designed to be slipped into cigarette packages, where it served both as a stiffener and a colorful collectible. The image depicts men in traditional dress from the region then known as Tartary, reflecting the era’s fascination with global cultures and exotic costumes. Produced through color lithography, a relatively new technology that allowed bright, affordable images to reach a mass audience, the card exemplifies late-nineteenth-century advertising ephemera. Allen & Ginter pioneered such series to build brand loyalty, turning everyday tobacco purchases into miniature lessons in geography and costume. Today the print resides in the Metropolitan Museum’s Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, where these once-disposable objects are valued for what they reveal about Victorian popular culture and the early history of color printing.

About the Artist

Allen & Ginter|Teofani & Company

Allen & Ginter, the pioneering American tobacco firm based in Richmond, Virginia, emerged around 1880 from the partnership of John F. Allen and Lewis Ginter, evolving from Allen's earlier John F. Allen & Company. Allen retired in 1882, succeeded by John Pope, yet the brand endured under Ginter's leadership, employing over 1,100 workers—mostly women—for hand-rolled cigarettes by 1886. Ginter, a Dut...