Card Number 750, Mrs. James Brown Potter, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-7) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1880s

This card, "Number 750, Mrs. James Brown Potter," was produced around 1890 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as part of a series promoting Duke Cigarettes. Its sepia tone and compact size immediately communicate its function as a commercial item rather than fine art. The composition is dominated by the profile of Mrs. Potter, her gaze directed away, perhaps suggesting a world beyond the immediate frame. The soft focus and diffused lighting give her an ethereal quality, typical of idealized portraiture of the period. The drape behind her and the floral patterns on her dress are rendered with a delicacy, but they also serve to emphasize the artificiality of the image. Here, Mrs. Potter is reduced to a sign, a representation of beauty and sophistication, to be consumed along with the cigarettes. The structural function of the portrait is not to immortalize an individual, but to market a product. This commodification of the image is an important reminder that art is not created in a vacuum; it's tied to broader social and economic structures.