Sergeant of Zeibecks, Turkey, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

Editor: So this fetching fellow is the "Sergeant of Zeibecks, Turkey," a print made by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company around 1888. The color palette is quite intense! What strikes me is how...unflattering it is, almost a caricature, despite supposedly being a portrait from their "Military Series". What do you make of it? Curator: Oh, but isn't that the delightful tension? It *is* a caricature, but with, perhaps unintentional, affection. I see a collision of cultures: the exotic East filtered through a Western lens, crafted to sell...cigarettes! Think about that fleeting moment: gazing at a brave soldier from a faraway land as you enjoy a smoke. A dream of adventure packaged with nicotine. Editor: So it's not really *about* the Sergeant at all, is it? It’s more about the *idea* of the Sergeant. The company sells a dream through this image, like an advertisement? Curator: Precisely! What’s especially compelling here is that the image exists both as a portrayal of someone *and* a consumer object. Is this Sergeant really like this, somewhere out there in the Ottoman Empire? Who knows? What we *do* know is that his image helped someone in America pause, light up, and imagine. Maybe a bit of that Eastern flair would rub off on them too. That is quite a spell, wouldn't you agree? Editor: That really shifts my perspective. So much for brave Sergeant Zeibecks…but perhaps his portrait's life is not what the artist even anticipated. This little print did travel overseas...as a talking point, to us! Curator: And perhaps that's the real beauty. A little spark of curiosity bridging centuries, sparked by a drawing on a tobacco card.