Mlle. Marianne, Paris, from the Actors and Actresses series (N171) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1886 - 1890

Curator: Well, what do you make of Mlle. Marianne here? I believe Goodwin & Company produced this photographic print as part of their Actors and Actresses series between 1886 and 1890 for Old Judge Cigarettes. She looks a little windswept somehow...almost as if she's leaning into a gale. Editor: I see that! It is this whimsical juxtaposition—a theatre performer posed against what is obviously a studio rock – there is an innocence that I find so incredibly engaging, you almost want to dive into the dreamscape of it. And her gaze, so direct... there’s defiance there. Curator: Precisely. These kinds of trade cards offered a glimpse into the celebrity culture of the time. Note the influence of Japonisme in the composition - it allowed advertisers to promote a bohemian sensibility. Mlle. Marianne becomes accessible but not totally approachable, her status amplified through print media. Editor: It's true! I'm swept away by her elaborate costume – pearls, tiny leaves and some dark fabric and adornments. The detail in such a small print must have been remarkable. It transports me – you forget this was designed as a piece of commercial ephemera meant to sell something. The focus moves quickly from the sales component. Curator: Cigarette cards served a purpose beyond marketing. They were collected and traded and pasted into scrapbooks. By today’s standard, she seems to be embracing a playful, almost androgynous sensibility. The very notion of celebrity portraiture changed with images such as this one. Editor: The fact that she is Parisienne just adds something to it. There is an ephemeral, romantic quality about that place, even at the time. Even if you do not smoke cigarettes, how do you not want that tiny print? Curator: Absolutely. There's something intriguing in how advertising can become an inadvertent form of documentation of artistic movements. Editor: That's where history finds us, after all, doesn't it? Where dreams have been sold and then reframed to suit another lens!