Shaddock, from the Fruits series (N12) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes Brands 1891

Curator: This is "Shaddock," one entry in Allen & Ginter's "Fruits" series, dating back to 1891. It’s a color print. The image lives now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Oh, a trading card. Tiny, sweet, melancholic even. I love how she seems lost in thought, almost examining that citrus fruit like it holds a secret. Curator: These cards were actually included in cigarette packs, intended to stiffen the packaging and encourage collecting. Note the aesthetic borrowings of Ukiyo-e prints, revealing the rise of Japonisme at the time. This ties into consumerism. Editor: Right! It is very "floating world." Look at that soft palette, her downcast eyes, and delicate posture... but think of the factory workers creating hundreds, maybe thousands of these things a day for distribution within these tobacco products. Curator: Precisely! Allen & Ginter cleverly marketed global commodities through romanticized images and accessible art. This "Shaddock," fruit itself and as the image’s namesake, is not necessarily of U.S. origin, echoing the material expansion within capitalist markets and how these items can become desirable objects in Western eyes. Editor: You can also see this kind of exoticized portraiture throughout other popular advertising, like in coffee or chocolate, with stereotyped "native" figures depicted in service to Western audiences. There's a strange comfort food aspect to this little Shaddock portrait. A longing mixed with...exploitation, no? Curator: Yes, the intersection of mass production and cultural appropriation. And a good example of the commodification of art. The printing methods also allow it to distribute fast, widening its capitalist range! Editor: Definitely food for thought... packaged alongside cigarettes. Well, now I am craving some grapefruit. Curator: (Laughing) As long as you’re aware of the conditions by which that fruit gets to your table, then all the better!