Mollie Graves, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Curator: I'm immediately struck by the intimate yet distant feel of this little sepia-toned scene. She’s there, but somehow, far away, you know? A world we can look at but never touch. Editor: And you’re spot on. This print, now housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is "Mollie Graves, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes," and it was created sometime between 1885 and 1891 by Allen & Ginter. It speaks volumes about the commodification of image and celebrity. We see it's used as an advertisement to sell Virginia Brights Cigarettes. Curator: Cigarettes, right! Now it makes sense—sort of like an early pin-up girl? Editor: Yes, it functions quite similarly. This portrait belongs to a broader historical context of marketing and the emergent role of women in advertising at the time. It’s fascinating to consider it as an intersection of gender, consumerism, and performance. We're basically viewing one of the earliest forms of influencer marketing. How can we not consider what her "role" might mean or how the viewer at the time took this in? Curator: The lace, though! All that lace and skin! This hints at the social constructs placed upon women, you know? Especially actresses… How did this portrait help define and confine her public image? Was she in on the message? Editor: It’s an important question to ask: to what extent was she complicit, and how much was imposed upon her? Thinking of the power dynamics present feels so crucial for me when viewing this now. She is beautiful, though, isn't she? The way she sits, confidently glancing out into the world… There is also an implication of luxury here: the lace, the suggestive lounging. The "Mollie Graves" brand, so to speak, is now tied directly with Virginia Brights Cigarettes... and that brand equates to having something. Curator: Exactly. Looking closely makes you wonder if that direct "brand" impacted her long-term career, identity, agency. That advertisement wasn’t just about selling cigarettes, but also, fundamentally, about selling a specific type of femininity, and that really makes me think about who benefits and how we read it now. Editor: Indeed. These are such tiny moments frozen in time that keep whispering new things to us across generations.