Joseph Mulvey, Baseball Player, from World's Champions, Series 1 (N28) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1887

This is Joseph Mulvey, Baseball Player, a lithograph card from the World's Champions series made by Allen & Ginter Cigarettes. Here, we see the composition dominated by a portrait of Mulvey. The artist employs a limited color palette, mainly muted tones, to create a sense of antiquated formality. The figure is presented from the torso upwards, with the gaze slightly off to the left of the frame. The red tie forms a striking focal point amid the gray tones. The texture, achieved through lithography, provides a tactile depth that belies the card’s actual flatness. Interestingly, the commercial nature of its creation intersects with cultural semiotics: the baseball player not just as an athlete, but as a signifier of turn-of-the-century American values. The card challenges traditional portraiture by democratizing its subject, embedding it within the burgeoning consumer culture. The formal qualities – color, texture, composition – function as commercial tools that also mirror shifts in cultural representation.