Miss McNulty as "The Duchess," from the series Fancy Dress Ball Costumes (N73) for Duke brand cigarettes 1889

Editor: Here we have "Miss McNulty as 'The Duchess'" a colored-pencil print from 1889 by W. Duke, Sons & Co. The colors are quite lovely. What I find particularly interesting is that it was printed for Duke brand cigarettes; what can you tell me about it? Curator: This image provides insight into the commodification of social status through tobacco products. What does it mean that this duchess is being sold with cigarettes? Duke, Sons & Co. mass-produced these images, reducing artistry to mere decoration on a consumer product. The materiality of this work, a simple colored pencil print, highlights its role as a mass-produced item meant for discard after the cigarettes were consumed. Editor: That's a fascinating point. It suggests that the image, while seemingly celebrating nobility, was ultimately disposable. Curator: Precisely. It invites us to consider the relationship between labor and luxury. The creation of such a vast quantity of these prints relied on industrial printing processes, and the labor required to produce them would likely have been far removed from the idealized world of the Duchess. Are we, through consumption, becoming active participants in the act of artistic production and in the support of those exploitative labor practices? Editor: So, by analyzing the material aspects and production methods, we can better understand the complex social and economic dynamics at play. Curator: Yes. By considering the social context of its creation and distribution, we move beyond a purely aesthetic appreciation of the image. The act of producing and selling something seemingly elite like "duchess-ness" alongside cheap, addictive material reveals a fundamental irony about capitalism. Editor: That makes a lot of sense. I hadn't considered the socioeconomic implications of the piece being tied to cigarette consumption like that. Thanks for opening my eyes to it! Curator: My pleasure! There's always more than meets the eye.