Actress wearing gold brooch, from Stars of the Stage, Fourth Series (N132) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1892 - 1893

Curator: This print, dating from around 1892, comes to us from W. Duke, Sons & Co. It is titled, "Actress wearing gold brooch, from Stars of the Stage, Fourth Series." These promotional prints were included in packages of Honest Long Cut Tobacco. Editor: It's incredibly charming! Like a Valentine. She's just a delightful confection of pinks and golds. Makes you think of spring, doesn’t it? Maybe spring in Paris? Curator: Absolutely. The Japonisme influence is palpable here. Prints like this showcase how Japanese art deeply shaped Western aesthetics. Ukiyo-e's legacy lived on in the most unexpected of places. Editor: It's that flat perspective and bold composition, right? It takes that sense of delicate transience, almost ephemeral, like theatre itself, and sets it right on a mass-produced collectible. Curator: Exactly! We often underestimate the sophistication with which advertising integrated prevailing aesthetic tastes. These cards circulated widely, familiarizing ordinary consumers with new artistic styles and promoting new cultural values. Editor: It makes you wonder what people actually did with these little artworks, pinned to a mirror, tucked into a love letter maybe? Almost like a pre-internet meme in a way. A widely distributed, highly visual snippet of pop culture. I like it even more knowing it was basically disposable, like smoke. Curator: Precisely! What we save and what is lost, says everything about power, visibility, and historical agency. Think about it – what would people a century from now assume if they unearthed an artwork promoting tobacco use? It makes you contemplate its initial popularity and our changing perception through a modern lens. Editor: Well, to me, it’s not so much a portrait of an actress or promotion for tobacco, but a time capsule of beauty, aspiration and visual codes—and the faintest aroma of longing. Curator: Yes, seeing the way that these mass-produced images are intertwined with larger cultural shifts makes it something special. Editor: A tiny piece of a glamorous lost world right in the palm of your hand.