True Eagle, Missouria, from the American Indian Chiefs series (N2) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1888

Curator: This piece presents "True Eagle, Missouria" from the American Indian Chiefs series, part of Allen & Ginter Cigarettes' trading cards, dating back to 1888. What's your initial read of this work? Editor: My first thought goes to the contrast. There's a striking contrast between the direct gaze and the soft rendering. He's presented with this... almost photographic realism, yet the background fades into impressionistic fuzz. It makes him feel both present and strangely distant. Curator: Exactly, these cards functioned as collectible ethnographic studies. Allen & Ginter were trying to capitalize on the craze for exotic imagery, feeding into, and also creating, a public fascination with "Native American" culture and appearance. Editor: It's impossible to ignore that commercial motivation. Yet, looking closer, there’s an attempt at respect, or at least a kind of serious documentation in the rendering of True Eagle's face and adornments, with his turban and fur stole. It feels very detailed. Curator: The detail comes from the coloured pencils used to create the image which was later printed. Consider this within the context of the late 19th century; photography was still relatively cumbersome. These cards were cheaper to produce and more accessible for the average person. This piece provided many with their first and, unfortunately, perhaps only impression of Native Americans. How do you think it affects how this group of people was percieved? Editor: Knowing the context deepens the impact, definitely. The detail, then, carries an added weight of responsibility—did it truthfully reflect the culture, or did it merely solidify stereotypes? Is this person an individual, or a generalized representation? A cigarette card turned into a monumental question of representation. It looks as though a picture in some history book and triggers thoughts about all the history it evokes. Curator: Absolutely. A little card with such vast implications. It urges us to ask not just "what" we see but "why" and "how" it was created and consumed. What were people looking for, when this first reached the market? Editor: It definitely holds some complexity in its intentions and outcomes. On first glance the vibrant rendering draws one's attention, then a quiet melancholy emerges along with some more difficult questions about cultural portrayal.