French Sailor, French Navy, 1886, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This small chromolithograph, made in 1886 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company, was intended to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes. Not exactly high art, you might say. But consider the industrial process behind this image, from design to the printing press to distribution within cigarette packs. The image, a French sailor from the French Navy, belongs to a collectible military series. Lithography allowed for mass production. A design was drawn on a stone or metal plate, treated with chemicals, inked, and then printed onto paper. The chromatic element meant that multiple stones, one for each color, had to be made for one print. So this was a complex, though quickly repeatable process. Now, consider the role of consumer culture and the creation of this image. Produced by labor, for a capitalist venture, it blurs the boundaries between art, commerce, and everyday life. It encourages us to think about the cultural meanings embedded in even the most unassuming objects.