Engraved Playing Cards - Copper-plate and Early Masters

Engraved playing cards were printed from copper plates and often hand-coloured, allowing finer linework than woodcut. Early English examples include pictorial and political sets such as Dr Sacheverell (c.1711) and musical packs like Songs with Flute accompaniment (c.1730). In the 17th–18th centuries these coexisted with engraved tarock and Spanish-suited designs from Vienna and Madrid; see Johann Nejedly Tarok cards and Joseph Sürch, Engraver for Viennese work. Typical signs are copper-plate line, stencil colouring and duty or tax marks on aces; some editions were later reissued in facsimile.