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

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 19th-century advertising with *Wild Rose: Poetry*, a petite chromolithograph from the 1892 *Floral Beauties and Language of Flowers* seriesN75), produced by the Donaldson Brothers for the American Tobacco Company's Duke brand cigarettes. Measuring just 2¾ × 1½ inches, this delicate print was designed as an insert for cigarette packs, enticing collectors with its charming depiction of women and flowers—likely a graceful figure amid blooming wild roses, evoking Victorian language of flowers where the wild rose symbolized poetry and fleeting beauty. Chromolithography, the medium's hallmark technique, allowed for vivid, multi-layered colors through stone-based printing, making these ephemera accessible luxuries in an era of mass production. Duke's innovative cards fueled a collecting craze, blending artistry with commerce and reflecting Gilded Age America's obsession with floral symbolism and feminine ideals. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department as part of The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, this tiny treasure highlights how everyday objects became cultural artifacts, preserving the poetic allure of flowers in tobacco tins. A window into promotional ingenuity!

About the Artist

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

American, New York|