Museum Collections

A small natural beige silk cloth printed with a color portrait of a woman labeled "Eugenie, Empress of France, 1853-1870", in a white lace off-the-shoulder dress with red ribbons wearing a gold crown with a trailing white veil and a pearl necklace. Printed "Zira Cigarettes" at the bottom edge. Empress Eugenie (1826-1920), the wife of Napoleon III., was born at Grenada Spain. She was the grand daughter of William Kirkpatrick, United States consul at Malaga, a Scotsman by birth and an American by nationality. She bore a son, Prince Louis, who was killed in the Zulu wars in Africa in 1879, after which she retired to England and allowed her estate to be used as a hospital during World War I. One of a series of queens and empresses. Given as collectible premiums by cigarette manufacturers.