Card Number 382, Constance, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-5) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Cameo Cigarettes 1880s

This is Card Number 382, Constance, from the Actors and Actresses series by W. Duke, Sons & Co., a lithograph designed to sell Cameo Cigarettes. The woman’s gaze is both direct and demure, while her elaborate headdress speaks of status. Consider the backdrop. The torn paper evokes the theatrical curtain, a potent symbol since antiquity. We find the curtain in countless paintings, its unveiling gesture promising revelation. Yet here, it is torn, hinting at a world both exposed and damaged. This recalls the vanitas tradition, where beauty and fleeting fame coexist with decay. The motif of unveiling is a key psychological trigger. It plays on our desires and fears, drawing from a collective memory of ritual and spectacle. The advertisers are banking on this symbol's ability to transcend time, imbuing it with new meaning in the context of selling cigarettes. It's a fascinating dance between high art and commercial aspiration.