Mary Albert, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 7) for Dixie Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Curator: Oh, look! We have before us "Mary Albert, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 7)," a piece from the late 1880s or early 1890s, by Allen & Ginter. It’s a collotype print, originally part of a Dixie Cigarettes series. The Met has this little gem in its collection! Editor: Isn’t it charming? Such a delicate sepia tone lends it this fantastic old-world feel—almost like peering into a forgotten theatre dressing room! I love how her costume is captured. There’s something both regal and vulnerable in her gaze, I can’t quite put my finger on it. Curator: That interplay is so interesting to consider. As a portrait within a commercial context, her agency, and, indeed, that vulnerability becomes a subject worth analyzing through a different lens. Look at how the composition divides her into discrete zones by costume details – upper, mid, and lower. The linear organization really underscores her formal role, no? Editor: Absolutely. The layers in her dress! Three tiers like a scrumptious, if slightly outdated, cake. But speaking of lenses, isn't it fascinating that they used a collotype for this? To capture an actress like Mary Albert, offering a product. Is she an aspiration, or is this art becoming mere advertisement? Curator: Oh, I think that binary collapses rather quickly when looking at Allen and Ginter's commercial empire in total! They are masters of a new Gilded Age semiotics; building associative, commercial ecosystems, one celebrity at a time. In essence, it is like today's Influencer marketing but packaged neatly for display alongside cigarettes! Editor: I love that. Collapsing the distance, maybe suggesting proximity is what fuels desire. All these little details whispering across time to say ‘aspiration lives here; just take a puff’. Curator: Indeed. As Roland Barthes would surely remark, the system of objects creates its own narrative, even within what we initially dismiss as a simple picture card. The color choices, the setting – the very materiality – weaves into a cultural tapestry we are only just beginning to explore. Editor: So true! Who knew a cigarette card could hold so many secrets? It really makes you rethink the stories hidden in the everyday. Curator: Exactly! It is less about what is overtly pictured, and more about what lies underneath. Like an onion skin, these photographs are ready for careful peeling, ready to be examined for details. The pleasure, it seems, is in the act of uncovering.