Card Number 760, Miss Chaissaing, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-5) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: This photographic print from the 1880s, entitled "Card Number 760, Miss Chaissaing, from the Actors and Actresses series," was created by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as a promotional item for Cameo Cigarettes. It's currently housed here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Immediately striking is the controlled tonal range and sepia palette. It lends a certain dreaminess and antiquity to Miss Chaissaing, framing her image not just as promotion but as something seemingly timeless. Curator: Absolutely. These cards were incredibly popular, embedding ideals of beauty and celebrity within the burgeoning consumer culture. The very act of collecting these cards provided a sort of tangible connection to these performers. Do you note anything unique? Editor: Well, her gaze directs our own, initiating us into some drama unseen. What seems particularly remarkable is the use of chiaroscuro— the artist makes good use of contrasting light and shadow to draw attention to her neckline. This lends not only sophistication, but offers further structural depth to the image overall. Curator: I’m compelled by her reserved expression. What does that signify? Perhaps a studied nonchalance, crucial to the mystique of an actress at the time? Also, she may signify beauty, as determined by social rules dictated by tobacco companies and printed by the millions in tiny photos... Editor: Possibly, although the relative shallowness of field creates for a sense of being enclosed by her proximity; our vantage is, paradoxically, quite intimate, given its intended purpose for distribution. Curator: Interesting thought. I consider these cards important for telling tales that can be rediscovered; how celebrities influenced ideals, how items were branded, or how a photo transformed into symbolic imagery for that era. Editor: Yes, this work serves as a valuable piece, not just of portraiture, but of visual culture. The layers it unfolds as a carefully structured photographic image and commercial object provide endless fascination.