Kate Claxton, from World's Beauties, Series 2 (N27) for Allen & Ginter Cigarettes 1888

Editor: Here we have a cigarette card from 1888, "Kate Claxton, from World's Beauties, Series 2 (N27)" by Allen & Ginter. It appears to be a print made with colored pencils. What's striking is its miniature scale, but also the explicit tie to consumer culture, and of course its Arts and Crafts feel. What do you see in this piece that I might be missing? Curator: Consider the material reality of this object: a cigarette card, mass-produced, designed for collection. It elevates the 'world's beauties' into collectible commodities, tied directly to the act of smoking. The portrait itself is secondary to the advertising of the cigarettes, its artistry a tool of consumption. How does the print’s color scheme – pastel shades produced on a very cheap printing press – affect its reception? Editor: That's a very insightful point. The link to consumption wasn't immediately obvious to me. So the focus isn't just on the aesthetic but the process of making and distribution, its commodification? Curator: Precisely. It pushes us to think about who created the image, under what conditions, and for what purpose. What does it say about the period that images of beauty were being used to sell tobacco? Where does artistry end and capitalist function begin? The means of production – cheap labor and mass printing – made it possible to distribute beauty alongside cigarettes, embedding images within everyday life. Editor: I guess I was looking at the surface and missed all the underlying structure! Curator: This card serves as a perfect microcosm of how art and commerce were becoming inextricably linked during the late 19th century, each propping up the other and making each other a powerful medium. Understanding its material conditions, shifts our gaze to these underlying capitalist forces, revealing so much. Editor: I'll never look at a cigarette card the same way again. Thanks for opening my eyes to the materiality behind the image.