Chinese Dragon Robes
Deck featuring 54 different images of Chinese Dragon Robes that emperors, empresses and royal family members wear on important occasions.
Chinese Dragon Robes (龙袍 Longpao)
Costume deck featuring 54 different images of Chinese Dragon Robes from the collections of the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City in Beijing, made from precious materials with exquisite workmanship and lavish ornamentation. The robes are embroidered with yellow dragons and auspicious symbolic patterns. According to the back of the card box: “Dragon robes refer to long outer garments with dragon patterns that emperors, empresses and royal family members wear on important occasions, such as banquets, sacrificial ceremonies and official activities, to show their majestic political statuses.”
Above: Chinese Dragon Robes playing cards marketed by Gugong World; 54 Bridge sized cards in box. Images courtesy Matt Probert.
By Matt Probert
Member since March 02, 2012
View ArticlesI have adored playing cards since before I was seven years old, and was brought up on packs of Waddington's No 1. As a child I was fascinated by the pictures of the court cards.
Over the next fifty years I was seduced by the artwork in Piatnik's packs and became a collector of playing cards.
Seeking more information about various unidentified packs I discovered the World of Playing Cards website and became an enthusiastic contributor researching and documenting different packs of cards.
I describe my self as a playing card archaeologist, using detective work to identify and date obscure packs of cards discovered in old houses, flea markets and car boot sales.
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