James H. "Jim" Devlin, Pitcher, St. Louis Browns, from the Old Judge series (N172) for Old Judge Cigarettes 1887

This small card presents James H. "Jim" Devlin, a pitcher for the St. Louis Browns, made by Goodwin & Company as part of the Old Judge Cigarettes series. Captured with muted sepia tones, the photograph shows Devlin holding his bat, in a stance that suggests a posed moment rather than live action. The composition is divided into distinct zones: Devlin himself, the blurred background landscape, and the advertising text below. This deliberate arrangement directs our focus, but also subtly highlights the card's dual function as both portrait and promotional item. Note how the soft focus flattens the image, reducing depth and emphasizing the surface. This flatness, combined with the repetitive nature of the series, challenges the notion of the unique art object, instead proposing a world of reproducible images. This anticipates later conceptual strategies that questioned originality and authorship.