Switzerland, 1 Franc, from the series Coins of All Nations (N72, variation 2) for Duke brand cigarettes 1889

Curator: Here we have "Switzerland, 1 Franc, from the series Coins of All Nations (N72, variation 2) for Duke brand cigarettes," dating to 1889. This particular piece, now residing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, was crafted by W. Duke, Sons & Co. It's a color print made with colored pencil. Editor: What strikes me immediately is its rather unsettling cheerfulness. The oversized head, the exaggerated features, almost grotesque in their exaggeration. It’s bright but… intense. Curator: Precisely. Observe how the artist manipulates proportion. The girl's head dominates, almost obscuring the body. This creates a visual hierarchy, placing emphasis, perhaps, on idealized national characteristics. Semiotically, the artist uses caricature to denote something about Switzerland. Editor: And there’s the laden pack on her back labeled cheese… layers of stereotype building up. I read the girl's closed eyes as ignorance or willful blindness perhaps—blindness to exploitation of a people via economic forces as subtly referenced by the foregrounded coin. Curator: An interesting reading. The coin itself, while flat in the image, functions as a focal point of visual perspective and design. Its grey, neutral tone anchors the otherwise vibrant, active composition of the character. The superimposition of text elements reinforces a theme about economic value, I propose. The coin design mirrors her—a national emblem rendered marketable. Editor: These trade cards were hugely popular; tiny billboards in people’s pockets, reinforcing particular national narratives. That this is for a tobacco brand just underlines the power and reach of that branding. Curator: Agreed, we must understand this imagery in context: consumerism intertwined with cultural representation, meticulously composed visual and textual components working to instill a specific cultural understanding. Editor: It really reveals how symbols and stereotypes intertwine to construct and market an idea of a nation, and how easily that can be packaged and sold alongside cigarettes. Food for thought! Curator: Indeed. The layering of symbol and structure prompts consideration beyond its colorful surface.