Actress wearing green cloth turban, from Stars of the Stage, Third Series (N131) issued by Duke Sons & Co. to promote Honest Long Cut Tobacco 1891 - 1892

Editor: So, here we have a trade card from the late 19th century, made by W. Duke, Sons & Co. to advertise their Honest Long Cut Tobacco. It’s titled "Actress wearing green cloth turban," part of their Stars of the Stage series. I find her expression really intriguing...she seems so lost in thought. What strikes you when you look at this portrait? Curator: It whispers to me of a lost world, a fleeting moment captured not for art's sake, but for commerce. It's odd isn't it, how advertising, this brash declaration of "buy me," can become a portal to a different time? I wonder what she thought, this actress, being immortalized on a tobacco card? Did she puff away herself, perhaps musing on her latest role while doing so? And the turban—green, the color of possibility and prosperity. What role did color play in hooking potential customers? Editor: That's a really interesting perspective. I was so focused on the actress’s face and the detail of her clothes, but I hadn't considered it from an advertising point of view. The color green would likely be a deliberate, conscious choice. Curator: Exactly! It’s the blend of art and commerce that always gets me. To me, this piece encapsulates an era; you’ve got the rise of celebrity culture and mass production meeting the Impressionistic ideals. Did they intentionally nod to the art scene or were they hoping it would blend with other advertising pieces? Editor: Thinking about the impressionistic and post-impressionistic qualities has given me a different viewpoint too. Now I am interested in that cultural context of art meeting advertising, it does make me think of Andy Warhol. Curator: Oh, Warhol would’ve adored this, a prophet looking backwards! Perhaps it reminds us, at the core of any creation, there's always a narrative, yearning to be told, or perhaps, in this case, sold.