Card Number 7, Miss Zeffie Tilbury, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-6) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1880s

This is Card Number 7, Miss Zeffie Tilbury, from the Actors and Actresses series, issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes. Miss Tilbury’s pose, seated and gazing off to the side, evokes the classical contrapposto, an ancient artistic convention used to depict figures in a naturalistic yet graceful manner. We see this stance echoed through the ages, from Hellenistic sculptures to Renaissance paintings. Even here, in this humble cigarette card, the echo of antiquity resonates, albeit subtly. The column beside her, though merely a prop, suggests a connection to the grand architecture of the past. It reminds us of the enduring appeal of classical forms and their ability to lend an air of dignity and timelessness to any subject, even the advertisement of tobacco. Thus, we see how cultural memory works. The forms and symbols of the past, like the contrapposto and the classical column, resurface and are reinterpreted across time, revealing the non-linear and cyclical progression of symbols and their ever-evolving meanings.