Orange Free State, from Flags of All Nations, Series 2 (N10) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1890

Editor: This tiny card from 1890, titled "Orange Free State, from Flags of All Nations," was made by Allen & Ginter using colored pencils and printmaking. I’m struck by how this simple flag illustration becomes a mini-landscape. What story does it tell beyond just a national symbol? Curator: That’s a perceptive observation. Consider this was a cigarette card, meant to be collected. Flags, then, become less about national identity in a serious, political sense, and more about a brand, a commodity. These cards circulated widely, functioning almost as miniature advertisements embedded within a larger imperialist project. Editor: Imperialist? How so? Curator: Well, think about it: The Orange Free State, now part of South Africa, was a Boer republic. By circulating these images of flags in connection with consumer goods, companies like Allen & Ginter were playing a role in visualizing and, in a sense, domesticating these far-flung places for Western audiences. It's about familiarizing and, therefore, controlling the narrative. Where do you think the exotic landscape fits in this imagery? Editor: It's like placing the flag in a desirable setting, making the place seem appealing. But, knowing the history, there's something unsettling about framing a colonised place as picturesque for the consumer’s pleasure. Curator: Exactly! And it subtly reinforces a particular power dynamic, wouldn’t you agree? The consumer in the US is viewing these lands from a comfortable distance, courtesy of a cigarette company profiting from global trade. It's art, yes, but art deeply intertwined with the politics of representation. Editor: That puts a different spin on what I initially saw as just a pretty flag card. Thanks; I'll never look at these little cards the same way. Curator: The point is to interrogate the systems within which artworks and images circulate. Our task as art observers, and yours as a budding art historian, is to investigate how images participate in complex cultural conversations.