Commodore's Pennant, Italy, from the Naval Flags series (N17) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1886 - 1891

Curator: Here we have "Commodore's Pennant, Italy," part of the Naval Flags series (N17) crafted for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes. Dating from around 1886 to 1891, it’s a lithograph, enhanced by colored pencil, now residing at The Met. Editor: My first thought? It feels… celebratory, but also somehow a little bit unsettling. That rippling flag against the stylized ocean makes me think of power, but also of impermanence. Curator: Exactly! Note the interplay between the static depiction of the Italian flag, complete with its crowned shield, and the active seascape. The colors are deliberately bold—primary reds and greens contrasted against the blues of the sky and the somewhat turbulent sea. The formalism speaks to the ambitions of nationhood visualized, practically commodified through tobacco. Editor: Commodification indeed! I find the placement of the cigarette brand, "Allen & Ginter," prominently at the bottom almost comical given the subject matter. A national symbol used to sell tobacco—the dissonance is almost art in itself! Curator: It highlights a cultural moment, wouldn't you agree? When nascent national identities are both intensely felt and easily exploited by emerging consumer culture. Consider, too, the Impressionistic handling of light on the water and the stylized rendering of the ship itself—elements seemingly at odds with the flag’s more graphic clarity. Editor: It does create a disjuncture! The loose brushwork in the seascape offers this dreamlike quality, a vision of Italy more than a reality perhaps, contrasted with the crisp authority the flag represents. A tiny window into a grandiose, yet undeniably murky historical intersection, I find the picture surprisingly layered. Curator: I quite agree. It is at once a simple collectible and a provocative condensation of national pride, artistic convention, and commercial motive. Editor: So, in a way, this tiny flag captured on a cigarette card tells a much bigger story than it seems to at first glance. An era of big dreams fueled by small vices.