Card Number 304, Jenny Bartine, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-5) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

This is "Card Number 304, Jenny Bartine," a promotional card by W. Duke, Sons & Co. for Cameo Cigarettes. The sepia tone and compact size give the card a tactile quality, like a small memento. Bartine's serene gaze and soft curls contrast with the sharp lettering and the bold assertion, “Duke’s Cameo Cigarettes are the Best.” The composition is structured to present Bartine as an ideal, a semiotic sign of beauty and refinement, linked inextricably to the Duke brand. The card’s structure—portrait above, advertisement below—mirrors the power dynamics of late 19th-century advertising, where female images were frequently used to sell products. In its subtle way, the card challenges fixed meanings. Is it a portrait, an advertisement, or a commentary on celebrity? It exists in the space between, inviting us to question the values and representations embedded within its form.