Playing cards combine many aspects of our history including paper-making, printing technologies, innovation, symbolism, graphic design and how these have changed over the years. Whatever your interest in cards, you'll find something interesting here.
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David Shrigley Ace playing cards
by Peter BurnettDavid Shrigley Ace playing cards, United Kingdom, 2014
Magic: The Gathering® Poker Decks
by Roddy SomervilleA pair of suited packs with artwork from Magic: The Gathering trading cards.
Imperial Club playing cards
by Roddy SomervilleLarge index broad size cards by AGMüller using a special red ink suitable for casinos.
Ilford playing cards
Colourful advertising pack for Ilford designed by Mario Grasso, based on standard English courts.
12 minutes ago
SCANIA 1891-1991
Centenary playing cards illustrating vintage trucks and buses produced by the Swedish company Scania.
2 hours ago
Dada and Surrealist Art
Dada and Surrealist Art playing cards featuring artwork by Arturo Schwarz, 1998.
4 hours ago
Euro Playing Cards
New euro banknotes and coins from several countries on circular cards.
Yesterday at 20:29
David Shrigley Ace playing cards
David Shrigley Ace playing cards, United Kingdom, 2014
Yesterday at 19:57
Magic: The Gathering® Poker Decks
A pair of suited packs with artwork from Magic: The Gathering trading cards.
Yesterday at 16:57
Imperial Club playing cards
Large index broad size cards by AGMüller using a special red ink suitable for casinos.
Yesterday at 08:54
Decadence?
“Decadence?” playing cards published by the Crafts Council, London in 1999.
Yesterday at 08:03
Maquettes for an unpublished WWI pack
Original designs depicting leaders and allegories from Russia, France, Great Britain and Belgium.
06 March 2023, 16:32
Russian criminal tattoos and playing cards
Russian criminal tattoos and playing cards, United Kingdom, 2018.
06 March 2023, 10:54
EPCS February 2023 Newsletter Members Only
Transformation • Neil Darbyshire • Eminent Victorians • Lobo London Underground • One Shilling • Queen of Hearts • WCMPC 2022-23 • Art of the Playing Card Maker Jigsaws • Dublin Cardmaking Dynasty • Winstanley Jack of Clubs Greenlanders • Historical Pope Joan • Quit • Jaques One Shilling Games
06 March 2023, 05:06
Bohemia Moravia
Historical figures from Bohemia and Moravia in Piatnik’s traditional style.
05 March 2023, 20:52
Jeu de 7 Familles France 98
Families card game with comic designs featuring seven of the teams competing in the 1998 World Cup.
05 March 2023, 20:31
Preposterous playing cards
Preposterous playing cards by Simon Drew published by British Heritage Ltd, Herts.
05 March 2023, 16:55
Jackspack Royal Navy Playing Cards
54 humorous illustrations of Royal Navy characters and Navy slang.
05 March 2023, 11:54
Wisdom of Wine
Wisdom of Wine playing cards by the English illustrator Simon Drew.
05 March 2023, 10:33
Le Jeu de Marseille (Vigno)
Amusing depiction of characters whom you might meet in the city and port of Marseille, as created by Anne Le Dantec.
04 March 2023, 19:34
Margaret Parrott playing cards
Margaret Parrott playing cards decorated with whimsical parrots, USA, c. 1997.
04 March 2023, 16:57
Les Mousquetaires Playing Cards
depicting characters from the novel by Alexandre Dumas
04 March 2023, 14:50
Vues de Monaco-Monte Carlo
Souvenir pack with 54 different views of Monaco, especially Monte Carlo.
04 March 2023, 08:23
Cleveland Museum of Art artists card game
Cleveland Museum of Art artists card game, USA, c.1993.
03 March 2023, 20:10
Le tour de la Corse en photos
Souvenir pack with 55 different views of Corsica.
03 March 2023, 19:43
Farmall playing cards
Farmall playing cards advertising International Harvester tractors, USA, c.2015.
03 March 2023, 16:10
Golf Playing Cards
Humorous designs and non-standard pips poking fun at golf and golfers.
03 March 2023, 15:41
Jeu de Familles Les Pierrafeu®
Quartet game featuring The Flintstones and friends.
03 March 2023, 08:47
Oxford Gargoyles
Oxford Gargoyles souvenir playing cards published by Chris Donaghue Photography, Oxford, UK.
03 March 2023, 08:01
Christmas 1980 playing cards
Festive courts on a Waddingtons pack designed to celebrate Christmas 1980.
Fundacja Polsat Dzieciom
Set of caricatures and cartoons in aid of a Polish children’s charity. c.2000.
Mercedes-Benz Skat
Classy-looking designs by Monika Dostler for a manufacturer of posh cars.
C.L. Wüst, 1811 - 1927
SPIELKARTENFABRIEK VON C.L. WÜST, 1811 - 1927. A short history of the Wüst factory by Martin Shaw & ...
Isle of Man playing cards by De La Rue & Goodall
Two different versions of Isle of Man playing cards from 1870 and 1914.
Chocolate playing cards with scenes from World War 1
An extraordinary Spanish pack of chocolate advertising playing cards dating from 1920.
Bushy Cards
“The Bushy Cards” playing card deck published by Political Parody LLC, USA, 2005.
Deck of Reagan
“The Deck of Reagan” political playing cards produced by NewsMax Media Inc. in 2004.
37: Late 19th Century Card-Makers and Problem Cases
After the Old Frizzle period and the tax was reduced to 3d per pack, from 1862 onwards, a number of ...
65: Adverts and related documents 1684-1877
Here are a few early advertisements relating to cards from newspapers 1684-1759 and a number of late...
Kinder-Karte
First published in c.1870, children are presented in these miniature Patience cards disguised as Kin...
Deakin’s 1st edition
Deakin & Co., 45 Eastcheap, London EC published a political pack in 1886 with caricatures of politic...
Paramount Film Stars
Promotional playing cards for the Paramount film company with film stars on the court cards.
Fred Basset
Fred Basset card game published by Pepys in 1977 based on the cartoon strip by Alex Graham.
Adolfo Matarelli Transformation
Matarelli was a well known caricaturist who first illustrated Carlo Collodi's famous Pinocchio story...
Jugendstil Art Nouveau Bridge
“Jugendstil Art Nouveau” Bridge Nr.2136 published by Piatnik, 1980.
The Big Picture
Playing cards have a universal appeal and are a reflection of human culture.
Great Mogul Playing Cards
The origins of the 'Great Mogul' brand playing cards.
Dungeons and Dragons Tarot
This 78-card officially licensed Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) tarot deck offers a visually appealing var...
Playing Cards from Around the World
The History of Playing Cards
Playing cards arrived in Europe the late 14th century and rapidly became a part of popular culture. Antique playing cards are like a visit to the local museum and evoke images of past eras and ways of life and also demonstrate archaic technology or production methods. So what do the oldest surviving playing cards look like?
Agostino Bergallo
Agostino Bergallo Spanish pattern made for South American countries
Playing Cards & Gaming
Soon after their first appearance in Europe we hear of playing cards being banned by the authorities...
Early English Playing Cards
Early examples of traditional, standard English playing cards of which the best known are those of H...
Toledo, 1584
Archaic Spanish-suited deck with 48 cards made in Toledo in 1584.
Artists & Designers
Art & Design
Design Caricatures Abstract Cartoon Celtic Deco Jugendstil Renaissance Rococo Surrealism
The playing card calls for artistic treatment and although the constrained size imposes some limitations there is an almost bewildering wealth and variety of designs in playing cards and their tuck boxes. The serious player requires design to be unobtrusive so that aesthetic considerations remain in the background. However, with modern manufacturing technology more eye-catching designs are becoming popular as gifts, collectibles and for their attractive appearance.
Prof. Franciszek Bunsch
Prof. Franciszek Bunsch, Polish playing-card designer.
Cheery Families, c.1893
Cheery Families card game designed by Richard Doyle and printed by De La Rue & Co., Ltd, c.1893
Anonymous Dutch deck, 1940s
Anonymous Dutch deck, 1940s
Bharata Playing Cards
Bharata Playing Cards - Series 2, based on Indian folk art, published by Sunish Chabba, 2018.
Nature, Wildlife & Environment on playing cards
Nature is filled with so much beauty that it’s only natural to feel uplifted in the presence of trees & birdsong. Sitting quietly in nature opens access the deeper states of peaceful consciousness that so many are seeking. Many artists have been inspired to design playing cards after spending quality time close to nature.
Mr Bok
The Merry Game of Mr Bok and his Happy Families, promoting Bok furniture polish, 1930s.
Animal Aid playing cards
Animal Aid playing cards with anti-shooting cartoons created by Steve Hutton.
Green Cards
Recycled playing cards with striking, non-standard courts.
Island 2000 Trust
“Island 2000 Trust” sustainability project playing cards, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom, c. 2005.
Oracle, Divination & Tarot
More recently, Cartomancy and modern esoteric tarot packs have been produced in a wide variety of conceptions and involve use of imagination and intuition to assess one’s thoughts and feelings from the view point of the symbolic images and numbers.
It is possible for an object to be construed as a game in one context, and as something other than a game in a different context.
Tarot, originally a 15th century card game, has evolved into a popular system of personal mysticism, self-exploration and spirituality Learn more about tarot►
Carreras Fortune Telling Cards
Carreras Fortune Telling Cards.
The Fortune Teller's Deck
The Fortune Teller’s Deck was published in 1995 in conjunction with a book written by Jane Lyle. The...
Polish fortune-telling cards
Fortune-telling pack with divinatory rhymes in Polish, c.1985.
Michael Scot's rebus figure of "Juppiter" as prototype for the tarot pack's "Magus”/”Bateleur”
A precursor for the 'Bateleur'/'Magus' included in the major arcana of our tarot pack.
The games we play mirror the world we live in, like popular art. There was a time when friends and family played indoor games by the fireside and enjoyed countless hours of pleasure and amusement. Children don’t play card games so much because they prefer computer games, the ultimate excitement. Antique and vintage card games offer documentary evidence, as well as nostalgic memories, of the social interaction, fashions and stereotypes of bygone days and are a study in social anthropology.
French card games are mostly Jeux des Sept Familles. German games are often pleasing on the eye, and they seem to favour quartet games. USA love quartets of world worthies like authors, painters, composers. Games are not simply an escape from the real world, they are also educational and provide a place to process what it all means.
Davenol Cough Linctus
Davenol Cough Linctus Happy Families published by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
Ataque
“Ataque”, a card game simulating football manufactured in Buenos Aires by Vigor S.R.L., 1958.
Snow White 1st edition
Snow White card game 1st edition published by Castell Brothers Ltd (Pepys), 1937.
My Word
My Word “The last word in card games” designed by Michael Kindred and Malcolm Smith, published in 19...
