Card Number 64, Agnes Booth, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-4) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

This is "Card Number 64, Agnes Booth", from the Actors and Actresses series, made around 1888 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as a promotional item for Cameo Cigarettes. The sepia tone gives the card a nostalgic feel, emphasizing the textures of Agnes Booth's elaborate costume. Notice how the composition, though simple, uses Booth’s pose to engage the viewer. Her gaze, softened by the sepia, is directed slightly downward, creating an intimate connection. The card's structure plays with the semiotics of celebrity. As a mass-produced object, it flattens the aura of the actress into a commodity, a signifier of glamour to be collected and consumed. This tension between the unique persona and its commodified image mirrors broader shifts in late 19th-century culture. The rigid frame of the card contains and presents this image, highlighting the artificiality of representation itself. It prompts us to reflect on how fame and image were constructed and circulated.