Tea Rose: Jealousy, from the series Floral Beauties and Language of Flowers (N75) for Duke brand cigarettes

Art Historical Context

This delicate 1892 color lithograph, *Tea Rose: Jealousy*, belongs to the “Floral Beauties and Language of Flowers” series issued by the American Tobacco Company for Duke brand cigarettes. Printed by Donaldson Brothers, the tiny card—just 2¾ by 1½ inches—depicts a graceful woman beside a tea rose, illustrating the Victorian practice of assigning emotional meanings to blooms. The tea rose’s soft petals and warm hues were understood to signal jealousy, turning an everyday flower into a coded message. Such cigarette cards were among the earliest forms of mass-produced color imagery available to the public. Vivid chromolithography allowed manufacturers to create miniature works of art that encouraged collectors to save complete sets, thereby boosting brand loyalty. Donaldson Brothers specialized in these affordable, eye-catching prints, blending commercial advertising with the era’s taste for sentiment and symbolism. Today the card forms part of the Metropolitan Museum’s Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, preserving a charming record of how 19th-century commerce, botany, and popular culture intersected in the palm of a hand.

About the Artist

Donaldson Brothers|American Tobacco Company (American| ) · 1850 | –1870 |

American, New York|