Queen Regent of Spain, from World's Sovereigns series (N34) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1889

This small chromolithograph of the Queen Regent of Spain was made by Allen & Ginter, a cigarette company, as part of a series of collectible cards. The image is printed on thin paper, and the process combines several layers of color applied using lithography. The result is a vibrant, detailed portrait, although it is mass-produced. Unlike traditional portraiture, these cards were not meant to last. Their value lay in their collectibility, part of a marketing strategy to encourage repeat purchases of cigarettes. The image flattens the Queen into a stylized representation, subordinating her royal status to the product being advertised. It’s an interesting example of how industrial printing democratized image-making while simultaneously turning it into a tool of capitalist enterprise. The highly-skilled craftsmanship found in lithography is here deployed to create an object of fleeting value, a reminder of the intertwined relationship between art, industry, and consumption.