Card Number 323, Mlle. Rescolli, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-7) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: Before us is "Card Number 323, Mlle. Rescolli," from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-7). This piece was issued by Duke Sons & Co. sometime in the 1880s to promote Duke Cigarettes. Editor: It has a faded elegance, almost like a ghost caught in sepia tones. The figure's poised stance juxtaposed with the stark vertical stripes of her costume creates a disquieting tension, wouldn’t you agree? Curator: Structurally, the composition is quite intriguing. The rigid lines of the figure's attire and posture provide a robust architecture. The balance of light and shadow draws the eye, doesn't it? Editor: The figure seems to be dressed as a Harlequin or Pierrot, traditional stock characters in Commedia dell'arte. It conjures a specific time in theatre history, filled with specific symbolism: the fool as the wise outsider, commenting on society. Curator: Precisely! It's fascinating how popular culture so readily co-opts signs and symbols. What's more striking is how those signifiers simultaneously both lose their original valence but also carry faint echoes of their complex ancestry. Editor: Yes, indeed! You also see the popular "dumb blonde" and feminine figure. While dressed in fool's attire, the beauty of this lady and the slight pout creates a completely different picture that contrasts against fool figures. It feels incredibly calculated, like a mask that reveals more than it hides. Curator: Her gaze is a pivotal structural point. That tilt of the head and slight look is incredibly important, don't you think? The line from her chin draws one's eye down into the corset's construction. Editor: So what starts out as a picture to entice people with a picture to enjoy a "good cigarette," ends up having incredible depth! This unassuming advertising card opens the door to examining cultural memory and its evolution in how symbols play within our societal conscience. Curator: And analyzing those compositional qualities helps one deconstruct the underlying ideology present at the surface! A fruitful exercise.