Standard Bearer, France, 16th Century, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

"Standard Bearer, France, 16th Century" is a trade card from the "Military Series" issued by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company in 1888 to promote their Sweet Caporal cigarettes. The card depicts a soldier in 16th-century French attire, standing with his right hand on his hip and his left hand resting on a flagpole. The soldier wears a plumed hat, a ruff, a green doublet, and yellow breeches. The card exemplifies late 19th-century chromolithography, a printing process that uses multiple lithographic stones to create detailed, colorful images. This piece, now in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, showcases the intersection of commercialism, historical representation, and artistic techniques in the late 19th century.