Pet Dove, from the Household Pets series (N194) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1891

This chromolithograph, “Pet Dove,” was made by the Wm. S. Kimball & Co. It exemplifies the democratizing effect of industrial reproduction in the late 19th century. Before the advent of this technique, color images were precious and rare. But here, we see a sophisticated, multi-layered image achievable on a mass scale. Look closely, and you can see the careful dot matrix of colors building the image. The original design would have been executed by skilled draughtsmen, yet it was the industrial workforce operating lithographic presses that made the image accessible to a broad public. These cards, included in packages of Kimball’s cigarettes, spoke to an emerging consumer culture, a far cry from established categories of art. The very concept of “art” expands when we consider these objects, and the ways that design and manufacturing are intertwined.