Malay Warrior, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This late nineteenth-century chromolithograph was produced by the Kinney Tobacco Company as a promotional insert for Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. These cards, printed on a mass scale, weren't made using traditional art materials, but with industrial processes, revealing the nature of production and consumption at the time. Notice how the company reproduced an image of a ‘Malay Warrior’, a figure exoticized by the West. The chromolithography process allowed for the efficient, affordable replication of colorful images. These cards were essentially products of labor, designed to promote further consumption. The image flattens the warrior to a mere caricature, ignoring his cultural complexity. The production of this card, like the tobacco it advertised, depended on global systems of labor and trade, often exploiting workers and reinforcing colonial power dynamics. By acknowledging these elements, we can understand the cultural impact of these seemingly simple cards, and challenge conventional notions of value and artistry.