Emily Read, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 7) for Dixie Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Allen & Ginter’s ‘Emily Read, from the Actors and Actresses series’ presents us with a sepia-toned image of a performer, captured on a small card designed for Dixie Cigarettes. The composition, dominated by the figure of Emily Read on a swing, invites a visual interplay between the playful subject and the commercial context. The aesthetic here merges the worlds of entertainment and advertisement, using Read's image as a signifier of allure. The dark polka dots against the light fabric of her dress create a pattern that is at once decorative and disruptive, hinting at a tension between surface appeal and underlying complexities. Her gaze, directed slightly off-center, engages the viewer while maintaining a degree of detachment, typical of the semiotic strategies in commercial art. This card is not merely a portrait; it is a carefully constructed sign, inviting us to consider the ways in which images function as both representations and commodities. It highlights the shifting landscape of value and meaning in an era of mass production and burgeoning consumer culture.