Highland Fling, from National Dances (N225, Type 2) issued by Kinney Bros. 1889

This chromolithograph of ‘Highland Fling’ was produced by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company in the late 19th century. It was one of a series of images of ‘National Dances’ printed on cards included in cigarette packets. The image shows a dancer in a highly stylized version of traditional Highland dress, performing a ‘fling’ – a celebratory solo dance traditionally performed by men. This commercial image is more about romantic ideas of Scottish culture, than its reality. Cards like this one were among the first mass-produced color images and, in their own way, helped disseminate ideas about national identity and culture. Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company used images like this to promote its brand and associate it with a sense of global culture. Understanding images like this requires research into the tobacco industry of the late 19th century, the history of chromolithography, and the evolving idea of ‘Scottishness’ in popular culture. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.