Monocle and Eye (blue), from Jocular Ocular series (N221) issued by Kinney Bros. 1889

This is "Monocle and Eye (blue)," a lithograph issued in 1889 by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. The print is dominated by the large, stylized eye, its gaze direct and unwavering. The cool blue iris is bisected by the stark black silhouette of a man wearing a monocle, an ironic twist on visual perception. The humor is embedded in the visual pun, a play on seeing and being seen, compounded by the close cropping and the circular format, which echoes the shape of an eye or a lens. The image is cleverly self-referential: the eye contains its own observer. The monochromatic figure inside the eye also suggests an internal world or the subjective nature of sight, and that what we see is shaped by our own internal filters. The humor invites a deeper consideration of how we construct meaning through visual cues.