Card 913, Lotta, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 2) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Curator: Here we have a portrait card dating from around 1885 to 1891. This particular card, printed by Allen & Ginter, is titled "Card 913, Lotta, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 2) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes." It currently resides here at the Met. Editor: There's an unexpected intimacy to this. It's sepia-toned, of course, but something about her gaze… and the framing, it's close, unusually so for its time. Almost dreamlike. Curator: Yes! Its affect and aesthetic sensibilities evoke Japanese Ukiyo-e prints. Note the composition; the actress Lotta is featured wearing what appears to be a kimono, subtly aligning her with exoticised depictions in vogue during this period. Editor: The garment drapes loosely, yet there's such intricate detail in the floral pattern. Her hair… what's happening there? Feathers? Is she even wearing that for real, or is it purely a confection for the camera? The composition appears both stagey and incredibly revealing. Curator: Exactly. This tension highlights the inherent artifice of celebrity. Though it imitates the artistry of Ukiyo-e through careful lines and subdued tonality, we must also consider its purpose as an early form of advertising. Cigarettes as a ticket to glamour! Editor: And the “Virginia Brights Cigarettes” label slapped in the upper corner—quite the contrast between high-art pretense and brazen commerce. It gives the portrait a strange sense of transience. Do you think the fleeting nature of cigarette smoking adds an intentional, temporal element here? Curator: That's very insightful, I think. Each card a disposable objet d'art, meant to be collected, traded, perhaps even savored for a moment, before being discarded much like the cigarette itself. These portrait cards aimed for wide distribution and brief moments of interaction. Editor: Makes you consider just how many of these “Lottas” ended up crumpled in pockets or tossed into the gutter. But we are fortunate enough to have one of these time capsules here with us today. A piece of ephemera now made monument.