Card 721, Miss Randall, from the Actors and Actresses series (N45, Type 1) for Virginia Brights Cigarettes 1885 - 1891

Editor: So, this is "Card 721, Miss Randall" from the Actors and Actresses series, dating from the late 1880s. It was made by Allen & Ginter for Virginia Brights Cigarettes. The photograph has a faded, dreamy quality to it, almost like looking at a memory. What catches your eye when you see it? Curator: That’s beautifully put! For me, it’s the almost playful dissonance between the rigid formality of the portrait and the sheer disposability of its original context – a cigarette card. Imagine someone puffing away, collecting these miniature glimpses into a world of theatre and celebrity. There’s a sense of aspiration, wouldn't you say? Editor: Aspiration, definitely. Like holding a little piece of fame in your hand. It’s interesting how something mass-produced could carry that kind of weight. How do you think Miss Randall would have felt about being on a cigarette card? Curator: Oh, that's the million-dollar question, isn't it? Perhaps a little flattered, certainly used for commerce, but perhaps ultimately immortalized, in a strange, nicotine-tinged way. Don’t you find a kind of poetic irony there? To be preserved, not in some grand gallery initially, but in someone’s collection alongside, maybe, botanical prints or butterflies. What a wild collision of contexts. Editor: Absolutely. It completely changes the way you look at both the portrait and the cigarette card itself. Curator: Precisely. It whispers about fame, consumerism, and the transient nature of beauty all wrapped up in one sepia-toned rectangle. That’s the art of collecting for you, isn't it? Unexpected resonances emerging from the most unexpected places.