Knapp & Company

Knapp & Company was a commercial printing firm documented as active circa 1888. The company specialized in producing small format, high-quality prints, primarily for use in promotional advertising campaigns during the late nineteenth century.

A total of 15 prints produced by Knapp & Company are currently represented in major museum collections, establishing the firm’s significance within the history of commercial illustration. Their output is notably held in the holdings of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. These works typically served as collectible inserts, often referred to as tobacco or cigarette cards, which utilized detailed chromolithography.

One of their best-documented assignments was the Fishers and Fish series (N74), produced for Duke brand cigarettes. This specific series focused on detailed natural history subjects, including specific illustrations of marine specimens such as Barbed Loach, Black Bass, Blennies, Blue Fish, and Bonito. Due to their age and historical nature, these Knapp & Company prints are frequently part of the public domain today, often available as downloadable artwork and providing important reference material for the study of late 19th-century American advertising art.