Mlle. de Sortes, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Curator: What a fascinating little artifact we have here! This is a trade card dating from around 1885-1891, one of a series of "Actors and Actresses" cards put out by Allen & Ginter for Virginia Brights Cigarettes. It features Mlle. de Sortes, captured mid-pose, forever advertising tobacco. Editor: She looks a bit coy, doesn’t she? A performer’s calculated glance over the shoulder, meant to charm. Though, thinking about the materiality of the card… It's bizarre that such a fleeting image would be tied to something so… tangible, so industrial as a cigarette. The ephemeral made solid through the process of mass production. Curator: Exactly! The card itself, it’s not just an image. It’s part of a whole culture of collecting and consumerism. Consider what it signifies: desire, aspiration, and the glamour of the stage, condensed into a small, easily obtainable rectangle. Almost like a…portable dream. Editor: And a manufactured one at that. This links performance not just to artistry, but to commerce and accessibility. Tobacco use was obviously on the rise if firms started distributing beautifully crafted trading cards of performers. The mass production, the very materiality of that ink, that cardstock, speaks volumes about its role in reinforcing certain ideals around beauty, entertainment, and consumption. Curator: But doesn’t it also democratize art? To have the chance of obtaining, trading and seeing her portrait, however briefly, would expose common people to a hint of "high culture", especially in an era where photography was still gaining traction. Mlle. de Sortes, for that brief flickering moment, became more accessible to all, because of commerce, not in spite of it. Editor: That's an interesting angle, and there's no way of getting past the beautiful craftsmanship; lithography had come such a long way by the 1880s. Still, who's to say what a factory worker really thinks of all this? Are the images appreciated on the same level, if not greater? Are they collected because their owner actually knows who she is or just because it fills out a complete set, and becomes, as such, another object, like any other manufactured item, ready to be thrown away in the blink of an eye, after its purpose has ended. Curator: Food for thought! These little pieces, they capture so much, don’t they? From the artist’s meticulous choices to the larger currents of society and… to individual yearnings. It’s about the magic they can inspire, isn't it, a yearning for… something more. Editor: Yeah. Material realities meet ephemeral dreams... and you end up with a cigarette card. How poetic, really.