Clock, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 4) issued by Kinney Bros.

Clock, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 4) issued by Kinney Bros.

Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Trade cards from the "Novelties" series (N228), issued in 1889 to promote Kinney Tobacco Company. There are five types of card within the series. Type 1 cards are round. Type 2 cards are round with colored borders. Type 3 cards are die cut to the shape of a novelty item. Type 4 are also die cut with embossing. Type 5 depict novelties on a rectangular card. Finally, Type 6 are die cut in the shape of an egg.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Clock, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 4) issued by Kinney Bros.Clock, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 4) issued by Kinney Bros.Clock, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 4) issued by Kinney Bros.Clock, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 4) issued by Kinney Bros.Clock, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 4) issued by Kinney Bros.

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.