Leopard, from the Quadrupeds series (N21) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1890

Curator: This is a “Leopard,” from the Quadrupeds series, created around 1890 for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes. It’s a colored pencil print, currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Editor: Oh, look at him! He looks so… thoughtful, almost mournful. Not at all what you'd expect from a fearsome predator. There’s something rather melancholic about its posture, head bowed like that. Curator: Absolutely. And it's fascinating to consider this image within the context of the late 19th century, a period of intense colonial expansion. Cigarette cards like these were enormously popular, offering glimpses of exotic places and animals, essentially fueling a sense of global conquest. The Leopold becomes more than just an animal; it's a symbol, an object of fascination and, perhaps, even appropriation. Editor: Appropriation, that's it! There's this undeniable urge to capture and possess the ‘exotic,’ package it into something easily digestible—literally, it accompanied cigarettes! It's like trying to hold the whole world in the palm of your hand, reduced to the size of a trading card. Curator: And the choice of rendering, with those delicate colored pencils, creates a softened, almost romanticized version of this animal. It lacks the raw, untamed power we associate with leopards. Editor: Right! It almost feels… domesticated. Like a very stylish house cat contemplating a particularly tricky patch of sunlight on the carpet. But, you know, something about its bowed head and hunched posture is genuinely disarming. It's as if it is already aware of being a specimen on display. Maybe, in a strange way, the artist has managed to capture the beginnings of environmental awareness or anxiety? Or am I reading too much into a cigarette card? Curator: Not at all. To see it as foreshadowing those concerns, and as a cultural artifact reflecting power dynamics, truly enriches our understanding. It also invites questions about representation itself. Editor: Makes you think twice about casually flicking through images, doesn’t it? Even a small thing like a vintage cigarette card can pack a pretty hefty punch. Curator: Indeed, the object is a powerful distillation of its historical moment.