Monday, December 24, 2012

Sporting Girls

*Hamilton King Girls*


watercolour sketch of a seated woman holding the tiller of a partial sketch of the stern of a yacht
Yachting Girl



sketch of woman in black skating along on one skate
Skating Girl



sketch of woman in long billowing dress performing a shot with a tennis racket
Tennis Girl



action sketch of a woman dancing wearing an early 20th cent. purple dress
Light Opera Dancer



colour sketch of woman in 1920s garb holding a basketball as if to shoot
Basket Ball Girl



drawing of woman with hat + overcoat holding a polo mallet (colour)
Polo Girl



drawing of standing woman in hat and with a chest sash holding a rowing oar
Rowing Girl



cigarette card in colour - woman in pink dress playing table-tennis. Card marked 'Turkish Trophies'
Ping Pong Girl



drawing of woman, arms raised, in antique yellow swimming costume standing on the end of a bending diving board
Palm Beach Girl



coloured sketch of woman holding a golf club with abstract green in the background near the number 9 hole pin
Golf Girl



sketch of woman bursting through paper ring held by circus clown
Reina The Circus Queen

"Cigarette or tobacco cards began in the mid-19th century as premiums, enclosed in product packaging. They were usually issued in numbered series of twenty-five, fifty, or larger runs to be collected, spurring subsequent purchases of the same brand. Typically, these small cards feature illustrations on one side with related information and advertising text on the other. [..] The height of cigarette card popularity occurred in the early decades of the 20th century, when tobacco companies around the world issued card sets in an encyclopedic range of subjects.
{from the NYPL Cigarette Card Collection || see more links from W}
Hamilton King (1871-1952) was a commercial artist, active from about 1890 in New York state. He produced illustrations and etchings for music sheet covers, postcards, magazines and calendars and was best known for his sketches of pretty ladies.

King's renown was established with the release of cigarette card prints between 1902 and 1913 that became known as 'Hamilton King Girls'. The promotional cards for Turkish Trophies and Helmar cigarettes consisted of five or six individual sets: sketches of women and those drawn by Hamilton King himself, bathing girls, women in period costumes, flag girls of the nations and sporting girls. King had to employ other illustrators to keep up with the demand and the style was copied by his competitors.
"The Hamilton King Award, created in 1965 by Mrs. Hamilton King in memory of her husband through a bequest, is presented annually for the best illustration in the Annual Exhibition executed by a member of the Society [of Illustrators]. One of the industry’s most prestigious awards, the selection is made by former recipients of this award and may be won only once."

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