Owl Parrot, from the Birds of the Tropics series (N5) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1889

Editor: Here we have "Owl Parrot, from the Birds of the Tropics series," created around 1889 by Allen & Ginter, using drawing and colored-pencil print. It's small, intimate and has this quaint, old-fashioned charm. What strikes me most is the context: it's from a cigarette card series! How do you interpret this piece within that framework? Curator: It's crucial to remember these images weren't created for a gallery. They're products of late 19th-century consumer culture. These cards functioned as collectable premiums boosting cigarette sales. Notice the meticulous detail in the parrot's plumage rendered through coloured pencil. Editor: Yes, there’s almost a scientific illustration quality to it. Curator: Exactly. Consider how knowledge about the natural world was being packaged and consumed. This is a drawing reproducing another image into mass consumption format as product support. What are we buying into alongside the cigarettes? An exotic image, the idea of tropical places, of colonial access. This artwork functions to brand not just a product, but also an idea of worldliness. Editor: That's fascinating. So, the artistic skill serves the commercial purpose, embedding certain cultural values related to wealth, travel, colonialism... Curator: Precisely! It makes us question: How much is the consumption of visual beauty intertwined with material consumption and colonial structures? What can be said about drawing, reproduction and product selling, as a set? Editor: This really highlights how art isn’t just about aesthetics, it’s so deeply embedded in production, materials, and consumption. I will keep my eyes more attentive from now on. Curator: Indeed, considering the labor, materiality, and social context provides a richer understanding of images, even those seemingly simple or 'charming'.