China, from the Natives in Costume series (N16) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1886

Curator: Here we have “China, from the Natives in Costume series (N16) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands,” dating back to 1886. It’s currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Well, hello there! What a vibrant character! I find it wonderfully peculiar, this tiny portal to another time and place—makes me wish I had the actual garment in front of me! Curator: The artwork functions as a chromolithograph print derived from a colored pencil and watercolor drawing. Part of a larger set, its intention was explicitly commercial. Cigarette cards such as this served both to stiffen cigarette packs and provide advertising value through collecting. Editor: Oh, the pragmatism of consumerism! Although... It's fascinating how this commercial imperative has now transformed itself into, well... us. I suppose all the daily detritus of modernity may one day gain value like this—that abandoned parking ticket of an early infatuation; the disposable coffee cup from our breakthroughs! I digress, though... something about the colors... is this artistic 'Orientalism' a visual shorthand, reducing whole cultures? Curator: Indeed. There's a tension in examining these objects. The color choices and stylized composition signal both a fascination with and a simplification of Chinese identity for Western consumption. Notice how the quality of the line work, especially in the clothing details, indicates mass production and an attempt at ethnographic accuracy packaged for quick understanding. It presents a culture reduced for easy consumption...much like the cigarette itself. Editor: So we get the costume more than the character, right? Still, those pink stockings feel almost rebellious in their context. This person depicted exudes a composed strength amid the chaos. It is this that somehow holds my attention. Curator: The card stands as an artifact embedded in consumer history and cultural representation, offering insight into both artistic practices and the complex relationship between commerce, identity, and early globalized exchange. Editor: So, while chewing gum lost its flavor on the bedpost overnight, Allen and Ginter's chromatic visions are right at home on the Met’s walls! Thanks to capitalism we can reflect on the collision of commerce and craft, the exquisite moment, even in mass produced images like this one!