Card 812, Miss Johnston, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 2) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

This is a promotional cigarette card, part of a series by Allen & Ginter, featuring Miss Johnston, an actress of the era. Observe the actress’s gaze, averted yet inviting, embodying what we might call, in the language of the ancients, a ‘nympha’—a figure whose beauty and vitality capture the viewer’s attention. Consider the subtle gesture of her hands, gently clasped. This echoes the Venus Pudica motif, where modesty veils sensuality, a dance between concealment and revelation that dates back to classical antiquity. In Botticelli’s "Birth of Venus", for example, we see a similar gesture, charged with both innocence and nascent sexuality. The arrangement of the hands—a seemingly simple act—carries layers of meaning across centuries. It is not merely a pose but a coded language that speaks to our subconscious, evoking feelings of desire. Such motifs serve as carriers of cultural memory, resurfacing in unexpected forms, echoing the past in the present.