Mabel Love, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-8) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Duke Cigarettes 1890 - 1895

Editor: So, this albumen print, "Mabel Love," created between 1890 and 1895 by W. Duke, Sons & Co., feels quite intimate, almost like a faded memory. The actress's pose, with her face framed by her hands, is particularly striking. How do you interpret the enduring appeal of an image like this? Curator: The pose itself harkens back to classical representations of melancholia, think of statues of muses, yet softened for mass consumption. We are invited into a brief, intense gaze. In those days of nascent photography, an actress distributing these photographs was directly forging an intimate connection with potential fans and solidifying her own image. What kind of cultural assumptions are at work here? Editor: I guess I hadn’t considered it that way – she is selling herself and a lifestyle, but how conscious was she of that act? It's interesting how what seems so personal could be quite performative, too. Curator: Precisely. The photograph exists as both art object and proto-advertisement. The Duke company isn't simply capturing a likeness, it is curating a narrative. A cultural memory. Editor: Do you think the cigarette card format itself contributes to how we perceive her image and the narrative being constructed around her persona? Curator: Absolutely! Imagine the exchange…smoker extracts the card, sees her. And then… tosses her out. Yet the symbol – Mabel Love - survives through our fascination today. That cultural artifact and continuity over a century—it fascinates me. Editor: Wow, I never considered how transient and permanent these symbols can be simultaneously! It definitely shifts my perspective on its creation and circulation.