Silky Cock, from the Prize and Game Chickens series (N20) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1891

Editor: Here we have “Silky Cock” from the Prize and Game Chickens series by Allen & Ginter, dating back to 1891. It’s a coloured-pencil drawing that feels quite delicate and detailed. There's almost something stately, even serene, about this… rooster? What do you make of this, beyond its obvious, er, subject matter? Curator: Oh, this Silky Cock—doesn’t he just exude a certain fin-de-siècle charm? What strikes me is the audacity of elevating poultry to the level of fine art, all while nestled within a cigarette card. It's the art world equivalent of finding diamonds in your cereal box. These cards, ubiquitous at the time, served as miniature windows into worlds beyond the everyday. Do you notice how the artist has adopted a slightly elevated vantage point, almost as if inviting us to admire his plumage from below? It certainly presents the animal as something almost Olympian, rather than ordinary farmyard fauna. Editor: That’s an interesting take – a poultry potentate! And it does seem like it's mimicking some Japanese ukiyo-e prints with the focus on nature and stylized composition. I'm now seeing the potential 'hidden message': finding beauty in unexpected places? Curator: Precisely! It's the quiet rebellion against the academic art establishment, dressed up as a tobacco advertisement. In the late 19th century, such commercial art had this playful sense of transgression, winking at societal norms through the guise of mundane, everyday imagery. Even the title, a simple description, adds to that double entendre, don't you think? Editor: Yes, definitely! The artist makes us stop and appreciate something ordinary and even… elevate it, I guess! Curator: And I daresay, invites a smile in the process, which, let's admit, is a very civilizing objective. It’s prompted me to want to spend more time looking for the charm in unusual things, in plain sight.