Cobaea: Gossip, from the series Floral Beauties and Language of Flowers (N75) for Duke brand cigarettes 1892

Curator: What a delightful find. We have here "Cobaea: Gossip," from the series Floral Beauties and Language of Flowers, dating back to 1892. It’s a color print, likely with colored pencil details, made for Duke brand cigarettes. Editor: It’s…charming. The colors are muted, but there's an odd stillness. She almost seems trapped, doesn’t she? Pinned there by the flowers. Curator: Trapped? I'm fascinated by your response. The image was designed as a trade card inserted in cigarette packs, intended to promote the brand. The company was called American Tobacco Company, and you could argue that women, represented by beauty in nature in the ukiyo-e style of portraiture, were also a material means of creating loyalty. Editor: That context does bring a discomfort to the fore, as a literal framing device. But it is the careful composition – the soft focus, the way the flowers both surround and almost obscure her, that first creates the impression. Her face, in contrast, is much sharper and the focal point of the piece. The positioning and colouring leads our eye around the whole scene with ease, even with those unsettling tones. Curator: These floral cigarette cards offered a glimpse into the Victorian language of flowers. They transformed tobacco consumption into an elegant ritual. Editor: The way the blossom is juxtaposed next to her also creates an atmosphere - especially when contrasted to the rest of the card's design. But how successful this kind of promotional technique was, I find curious, with so much emphasis placed on symbolic associations. Curator: Perhaps the aim wasn’t success but familiarity. As Roland Barthes taught us, this sort of structural language helps form and reaffirm consumer identities. Editor: It does allow for a richer understanding. I'm intrigued. Thanks for putting this image in a wider context. Curator: My pleasure, it’s fascinating how analyzing material origins and artistic choices changes our perspective.