Actress from the Old Judge series (N167) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1886

Curator: I find this image so evocative. The expression is soft and yielding, somehow innocent but also knowing. Editor: I agree, there is something so alluring and almost intimate about it, although perhaps a little sad as well. Today we’re looking at "Actress from the Old Judge series (N167) for Old Judge Cigarettes" created around 1886. This drawing or print on toned paper comes from the Goodwin & Company collection and is currently held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curator: A cigarette ad! It's amazing to think of it as advertising. It almost has the feeling of an old master's drawing. Did you know these cards were inserted into cigarette packs as a collectable series? A very different kind of fandom! Editor: Absolutely! That tension between art and advertising is very interesting. The image speaks to celebrity and aspiration, linking a particular vision of beauty and success with the brand being advertised. There is an underlying connection to women as objects of consumption—literal consumption in this case, linking a portrait of an actress to a harmful product, to men's access to it. Curator: I see what you mean. Even her gaze is carefully constructed, a look of distant, dreamlike receptivity as if waiting to be discovered. I notice it's titled "Old Judge," perhaps she's judging us… just a bit. Do you think she had any say in this? Editor: Not likely. It speaks to the period’s societal roles. The female image as something to be bought and sold, just like those cigarettes, with agency completely erased. Also, let's keep in mind that actors were not held in very high regard at this time. They were entertainers, that's all. Their images were at the service of this industry. Curator: I imagine many of the actresses probably didn't receive credit for their contributions and likeness. Looking at the piece purely formally, I adore the looseness of the hair; that feels so real and individual. Editor: Yes, there is definite contrast between that organic freedom and the sharp confines of the card's borders. She, or at least a representation of her, becomes a product. It really shows the way consumer culture encroaches upon all facets of life, doesn't it? Curator: I'm finding that contrast so very compelling! Editor: It makes one reflect on how even simple images can carry multiple layers of historical context. Curator: So true.