Diavolo Dancer, from the Dancing Women series (N186) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

This is a chromolithograph trade card, part of the "Dancing Women" series issued by the American firm Wm. S. Kimball & Co. It depicts a so-called "Diavolo Dancer", evoking a stereotypical and exoticized vision of European otherness. The card comes from a time of mass advertising and burgeoning consumer culture. Trade cards like this one were used to promote products, in this case, Kimball & Co's. tobacco. The image creates meaning through visual codes. The woman's costume is fanciful. The horns on her head, as well as the figures printed on the red of her skirt, suggest a devilish character. Her body is accentuated. What's fascinating is how these cards, distributed widely, contributed to the construction of cultural stereotypes. They reflect a society grappling with issues of identity, class, and cultural difference. If we want to understand this image better, we might look at periodicals, newspapers, and other archival sources. The interpretation of art is always contingent on social and institutional context.