Card Number 21, cut-out from banner advertising the Opera Gloves series (G29) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1885 - 1895

This promotional card for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes features a red opera glove holding a portrait of a fashionable woman. But what's most intriguing is the hourglass shape cut out at the base of the glove, revealing the number 21. The glove itself, a symbol of elegance and sophistication, is rendered in a bold, almost aggressive red. The hourglass motif, traditionally a symbol of mortality and the passage of time, introduces a curious tension. Think of the vanitas paintings of the Dutch Golden Age, where skulls and wilting flowers served as memento mori. Here, the hourglass combined with the opera glove evokes a sense of fleeting beauty and the ephemeral nature of fashionable society. This tension mirrors the duality of human existence – the pursuit of pleasure shadowed by the inevitability of time's passage. The image engages the viewer in a play between attraction and a subtle awareness of mortality. How these symbols resurface throughout history, adapting to new cultural landscapes, demonstrates the cyclical nature of human expression.