Handball, from the Games and Sports series (N165) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1889

This chromolithograph, 'Handball,' produced around the late 19th century by Goodwin & Company for Old Judge Cigarettes, presents a segmented composition. The subdued, soft hues evoke a nostalgic, pastoral feel. Notice the division of space: a finely rendered portrait of a woman on the left and a sports scene to the right. This separation invites a semiotic reading. The woman, framed with lace, embodies refinement, while the handball game suggests action and physicality. The contrast creates tension between passive observation and active participation, highlighting the cultural encoding of gender and class. The lines of the grassy field converge towards a distant house, creating an illusion of depth, but this perspective is disrupted by the flatness of the portrait. This tension between depth and surface is a game in itself. It invites us to question what is being presented and how. The artwork isn't just a depiction but an invitation to decode its visual and social structure.