Officer, Montenegro, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This chromolithograph, 'Officer, Montenegro', was part of the Military Series created by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Notice the stark contrast between the figure of the officer and the background. The Montenegrin officer is rendered with meticulous detail: the gold trim of his jacket, the red sash, and the curved saber, each element delineating a clear sense of form. The backdrop, however, is a flat plane of pale blue, adorned with simple, repetitive star-like shapes. This contrast directs our attention to the structural artifice of representation itself. The visual language flattens the cultural complexity of military identity into easily digestible symbols. The semiotic function reduces the officer to a signifier of exoticism and valor, neatly packaged for consumption, much like the cigarettes it advertises. The formal composition underscores how images can flatten meaning.