Card Number 82, Mlle. Debauch, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-4) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

Curator: Here we have "Card Number 82, Mlle. Debauch" from the "Actors and Actresses" series produced in the 1880s by W. Duke, Sons & Co. as a promotional item for Cameo Cigarettes. It's a print drawing. Editor: Isn't it amazing how a cigarette card can feel like a portal to another era? It has this sort of aged wistful quality like peering into someone’s past… Makes me want to light up a smoke, I admit, even though I don’t! Curator: It’s fascinating to consider the piece as a product of its time, a convergence of commerce, art, and celebrity. Note how the formal structure mirrors the era's portraiture conventions. The composition meticulously balances figure and text, subtly weaving brand messaging into the artistic representation. Editor: I love the old-timey feel of it. She has this coy sideways glance… like she has some wicked secret… like maybe that she enjoys smoking, herself! A rebel in the cigarette pack, maybe? She has lovely hair and wears what appears to be the height of fashion at the time. Curator: The delicate linework exemplifies 19th-century printmaking techniques, offering a glimpse into the visual culture of the period. Notice how line quality and tonal variation achieve both photorealistic detail and artistic expressiveness. Semiotics can decipher not only status and beauty norms, but also deeper codes of self-perception embedded in such ephemera. Editor: In a funny way, it kind of reminds me of some modern magazine covers…just a little… I could see this on the front of something today. Nostalgia is forever. Curator: Precisely, and these types of material culture demonstrate an object’s original intent—advertising a product— and allow viewers to extrapolate meaning well into the future. Its visual language, in the service of selling cigarettes, offers insight into a complex matrix of desire and representation. Editor: Well, I, for one, desire to buy one of her cigarettes now! All kidding aside, I didn't expect to be so drawn to a tiny card but this quick peek behind the curtain…I appreciate that, immensely. Curator: A successful exercise in engaging with the convergence of art, commerce and culture, wouldn’t you agree?