A Test Case, from the Jokes series (N87) for Duke brand cigarettes 1890

This chromolithograph card, 'A Test Case' by W. Duke, Sons & Co., part of the Jokes series, presents a curious tableau structured around the interplay of elements. At first glance, the soft pastel hues create a veneer of innocence, yet the composition hints at something more subversive. The card depicts a woman carefully pouring acid into a small, open container, its contents obscured. The acid bottle is sharply rendered in comparison to the woman's clothes and the background, and takes center stage. What meaning can we derive from this structure? Here, the rigid lines of societal expectation clash with the unpredictable nature of the acid, which is an agent of change or destruction. The woman is undertaking a transgressive act. The acid acts as a signifier of potential transformation, or perhaps a darker critique on the era's social and economic conditions alluded to in the script at the bottom of the image. The card presents us with a duality: one of beauty and one of danger, inviting viewers to consider the complexities hidden beneath the surface.