Captain, Royal Horse Guards, Blue, England, 1879, from the Military Series (N224) issued by Kinney Tobacco Company to promote Sweet Caporal Cigarettes 1888

This small chromolithograph, made in England in 1879 by the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company, depicts a Captain of the Royal Horse Guards. Its primary material is paper, made printable through a complex chemical process, and then stamped out by a machine. This card was created as a piece of ephemera, designed to be collected and traded. The company made use of printing technologies available at the time to cheaply reproduce images on a mass scale, embedding them in a broader culture of collecting. The card is a reminder of the relationship between industry, artistry, and marketing, designed to be included in packs of Sweet Caporal Cigarettes, and served as a promotional tool. Through industrial processes, it speaks to the blurring of lines between fine art and commercial design. This challenges us to reconsider what we consider art and the role of industry and capitalism in shaping our aesthetic experiences.