Caricatured figure from the Sandwich Islands, 1 Keneta, from the series Coins of All Nations (N72, variation 2) for Duke brand cigarettes 1889

Curator: Oh, my. At first glance, I find this caricature rather jarring, like a fever dream of misconstrued cultural references all mashed together. Editor: Indeed, it’s a striking image. This colour print comes from a series called "Coins of All Nations" created in 1889 for W. Duke, Sons & Co. cigarettes. It represents a figure from the Sandwich Islands, as Hawaii was known back then, alongside an image of a 1 Keneta coin. Curator: Sandwich Islands! You can just taste the cultural appropriation right? But those shoes... there is something bizarrely captivating about them. Like Cinderella gone colonial! It’s grotesque, almost surreal. Editor: The series as a whole sought to capitalize on a fascination with exotic locales. It's an example of orientalism packaged for mass consumption. Cigarette cards often served as collectible encyclopedia for consumers. Curator: A warped encyclopedia though! The overt caricaturing, the hyper-feminine clothing... what statement were they trying to make here? The figure’s elegance is exaggerated to the point where it transforms into absurdity! The composition is unnerving with that blank stare. Editor: Consider the context. This was an era of intense imperial expansion. Such images perpetuated stereotypes and power dynamics, reducing complex cultures to simplistic, often demeaning, representations, which also supported trade interests at the time. Curator: So the artistry here isn’t in skilled rendering but skillful propaganda! I wonder, could it also express anxieties about colonial power. Or are we giving them too much credit? Editor: That's precisely what is complex about imagery like this: what does the combination of attraction and repulsion tell us? What I think this piece offers is less an example of outright intent, but more insight into a worldview from that historical moment. Curator: Yes, I agree; thank goodness we can look back and cringe together—we're not as horrible as we were once. It's also a powerful lesson on how quickly stereotypes are packaged up with our pennies. Editor: Quite. This humble cigarette card becomes an accidental portal into a long history of cultural projection. A tiny, but loaded, artifact.