Abyssinian Roller, from the Song Birds of the World series (N42) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1890

Curator: This print is titled "Abyssinian Roller," part of the "Song Birds of the World" series, created around 1890 by Allen & Ginter for their cigarette brand. It is a colour print enhanced with coloured pencil. Editor: It's like a visual haiku, isn't it? That little bird perched there, slightly awkward yet undeniably vibrant against the triptych. Makes me think of a stage set for a miniature opera. Curator: The composition is indeed noteworthy. Observe the tripartite division. We have the text panel promoting the cigarettes, then the avian portrait, and finally, a miniature nocturnal scene featuring a bird silhouetted against what seems to be the moon and a prominent spiderweb. This fragmentation draws on the aesthetic strategies found in Japonisme. Editor: Yes, a little like panels in a folding screen. But there’s also a hint of a Victorian cabinet of curiosities. These were commercial cards inserted into cigarette packs. Sort of like trading cards, but designed to be collected. You could almost smell the tobacco when you look at this. Curator: Precisely. Note how the artist uses line and colour to distinguish textures. The bird's feathers are rendered with detailed, almost scientific precision, whereas the backgrounds are more loosely defined, bordering on impressionistic. Editor: That iridescent blue on the wings! It's striking, like capturing a fragment of a dream. The colours really do sing, don't they? It’s such an intimate scale for a study of natural wonders—as if this bird, and the landscape beyond it, is meant to be discovered slowly, like a secret tucked inside your smoke break. It transforms a mundane act into a moment of fleeting contemplation. Curator: I appreciate how the different textures establish an intriguing aesthetic tension. The whole image pulsates with subtle rhythms of contrasts. A mass-produced commercial product, yet it aspires to a kind of elevated aesthetic experience. Editor: Ultimately, it speaks to a longing, perhaps even then, for moments of beauty and connection with the natural world amidst the smog of everyday life. It’s fascinating how something designed for a fleeting moment can hold so much quiet contemplation. Curator: Indeed, and to unpack those historical and artistic forces further requires further close viewing and analysis… Editor: A journey, no doubt, into our complicated affections for smoke and beauty.