Plate 39, from the Fans of the Period series (N7) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1889

Editor: Here we have Plate 39, from the "Fans of the Period" series, dating back to 1889, by Allen & Ginter. It’s a coloured-pencil drawing, presented as a print. I find its muted colours and somewhat caricatured style strangely charming. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: Charm indeed! It whispers tales of Japonisme, doesn't it? That late 19th-century craze for all things Japanese. See how the fan and the portrait’s composition subtly nod to Ukiyo-e prints? Imagine a Parisian salon, filled with ladies in enormous hats just like that, casually smoking Allen & Ginter cigarettes... do you think they realised they were part of this…exotic picture, a brand image fusing east and west? Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn't connected the cigarettes with the whole Japonisme movement. I was more focused on the… oddness of that hat. Curator: Ah, the hat! Yes, wonderfully preposterous, isn't it? It is hard to resist reading it as a satirical, very knowing commentary on fashion and consumption of the era. What I find most curious is how such a tiny, mass-produced commercial item—a cigarette card—managed to embody so much about the cultural moment. Editor: So it's like, a snapshot of a fleeting trend immortalised in a piece of advertising? Curator: Precisely! Makes you wonder what our cigarette cards would look like today, doesn’t it? Editor: Definitely gives me a lot to think about in terms of art, commerce and cultural appropriation. Curator: Yes, it did its job, for me at least!