E. B. Bigelow, printer's sample for the World's Inventors souvenir album (A25) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

This is a chromolithograph, a type of printmaking that uses multiple printing plates to create a colorful image. The artwork depicts E. B. Bigelow, who was most likely a prominent inventor, as it's from the "World's Inventors" series of trading cards commissioned by Allen & Ginter, a company that distributed tobacco products. The card is a printer's sample, indicating the artist's concept before mass production. It has a realistic portrait style, typical of portraiture in the late 19th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City houses the artwork.