Woman wearing hat with black and red feathers, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 2) 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, N228.50
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, American tobacco companies like Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company revolutionized marketing by inserting colorful collectible cards into cigarette packs. This petite, round chromolithograph—measuring just 1 9/16 inches across—from their 1889 Novelties series (N228, 2) captures a stylish woman adorned with a hat featuring striking black and red feathers. Produced as commercial ephemera, it exemplifies the vibrant color lithography techniques of the era, where multiple stone plates allowed for vivid, mass-produced hues that mimicked fine art at an everyday scale. These "cigarette cards" fueled a collecting mania among Victorians, offering glimpses into fashion, beauty ideals, and novelty themes. The woman's elegant plume headdress reflects the opulent millinery trends of 1880s-1890s America and Europe, where feathers symbolized luxury amid growing concerns over plume hunting. As part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Jefferson R. Burdick Collection—a treasure trove of over 30,000 such prints donated in 1948—this tiny gem highlights how commercial art democratized visual culture, bridging advertising and popular aesthetics.
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...