Card 31, Rhodocera Cleopatra, from the Butterflies series (N183) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1888

Curator: It's a striking image. Something about it gives me a distinct feeling of early industry—it feels like something meant to be distributed widely and consumed rapidly. Editor: Yes, and there’s something slightly unsettling about it, an innocence undermined by…what is it? Unease? It's as if this delicate figure is pinned, labeled, and then presented for commercial consumption. Curator: I think that’s a really perceptive point. This card, entitled "Card 31, Rhodocera Cleopatra, from the Butterflies series," dates from 1888 and was issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. Kimball was, primarily, a tobacco firm. These cards were included in cigarette packs as collectables and advertisements. Editor: So the subject of natural beauty is packaged along with, and perhaps masking, something unhealthy, even dangerous. The “Rhodocera Cleopatra” moth becomes a stand-in for an ideal, and likely very young, woman—displayed as a desirable commodity, mirroring how women were perceived and presented in that era. What materials were used here? Curator: It is, technically, a print. However, the coloring strongly suggests it’s derived from a drawing, likely done in colored pencil, or at least meant to mimic that aesthetic. It would have been printed en masse, as quickly and efficiently as possible. It's a testament to chromolithography; what strikes me is the material means by which they simulated a luxurious aesthetic to encourage purchasing. Editor: You see the artifice, the manufacturing. I see also the undercurrents of Victorian-era constraints on women. This “butterfly” is hardly free, is she? Curator: Not at all. And notice her garments; the artist takes pains to put her in finery, an attempt at representing the upper class lifestyle being sold with each packet. It’s interesting to see these techniques still being implemented today through digital rendering for various online marketing schemes. Editor: Definitely a sharp reminder of the historical commodification of beauty, labor and, on closer reflection, life itself. These cards are not simply decorative objects, but relics loaded with social meaning. Curator: I concur. What might seem like simple imagery turns out to be a rather complex tableau once you examine it critically, materially. Editor: A concise image with layers of implications and uncomfortable echoes to today.