Miss Urquhart, from the Actresses series (N203) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1889

Editor: Here we have “Miss Urquhart,” a photograph from the Actresses series produced by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. around 1889. It’s striking how this small image captures such an elaborate pose and costume. What elements stand out to you when you look at this? Curator: The first thing that grabs me is the cigarette card itself. This isn't high art hanging in a gallery. It’s a mass-produced object, designed for circulation, for commerce, and consumption. Miss Urquhart's image is bound to the product, quite literally packaged and sold alongside tobacco. Consider the materiality of the card - the paper stock, the printing process. It speaks volumes about the late 19th-century industrial practices and their intersection with the world of entertainment. Do you notice any visual echoes of Japonisme, in terms of production? Editor: Yes, the flat background and the actress's stylized pose have a certain Japanese print feel. How might Japonisme have influenced the social context of this card's production? Curator: Think about the accessibility of such imagery. Japanese prints, and styles, were becoming increasingly popular and readily available through trade. Including similar styles on cigarette cards democratized the visual language. Now, consider the social implications of making actresses readily available as images, and being distributed en masse by industries using labor, and the act of consuming cigarettes, which are heavily advertised using this card... Editor: So, this seemingly simple photograph opens up into discussions of industrial production, consumerism, labor, and even cultural appropriation. Curator: Exactly! We’re not just looking at a pretty picture of an actress. We’re engaging with the complex network of material culture that created and circulated this image. It shifts how we perceive her image and its purpose.