Emperor of Austria, from World's Sovereigns series (N34) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1889

This small card depicting the Emperor of Austria was produced by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes in the late 19th century, as part of a series portraying world leaders. It's a chromolithograph, a color printing technique that boomed during the industrial era. The process involved creating multiple printing plates, each applying a different color ink to the paper. It was a painstaking, skilled form of labor, yet capable of turning out images at an unprecedented rate. Consider the contrast: a hand-crafted image, reproduced in vast quantities, and then given away as a promotional item within a mass-produced commodity, cigarettes. There's a tension between the artistry of the print and its role in fueling consumerism. By focusing on these materials and the making process, we can see this card not just as a portrait, but as a window onto the economic and social landscape of its time, blurring the lines between art, industry, and everyday life.