Card Number 387, Miss Norman, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-3) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cross Cut Cigarettes 1880s

This small advertisement card, produced around 1890 by W. Duke Sons & Co., presents Miss Norman, an actress, in a pose that's both alluring and carefully constructed. The fringed costume and the turned head are not merely decorative; they speak to a long lineage of theatrical representation. Consider the fringed dress, echoing garments worn by figures in ancient Minoan art, associated with fertility and dance. This costume links Miss Norman to the primal energy of performance and ritual. The gesture of her turned head can be found in classical sculpture, a device used to reveal character and emotion. Her pose also touches upon the *ninfa* motif, that pose that embodies the awakening of life and passion. It has evolved over centuries, resurfacing in Botticelli’s Venus and continuing through various forms in modern performance. This card invites us to consider the complex ways in which symbols and gestures are passed down, layered with new meanings, and continually reborn in the collective psyche.