Ravi Varma Press

Published June 21, 2019 • Updated June 08, 2022

Ravi Varma Press, Bombay, India, c.1910.

It is unclear how many decks or different editions of playing cards were published by the Ravi Varma Press of Bombay, India, but the list includes historical and mythological titles. This colourful but untitled example was probably printed in c.1910. As it has square corners, rather than rounded ones, it may be one of the earlier examples.

The twelve court cards are double-ended but not named. They appear to depict Moghul rulers on the kings, their Begums and armed guards on the queens and jacks.

playing cards printed by Ravi Varma Press, Bombay, India, c.1910

Above: the ace of spades with manufacturer’s details and trade mark. The RVP monogram is intertwined with a sprig, which makes the P appear to have a front leg like the R. (Click image to zoom).

Above: playing cards printed by Ravi Varma Press, Bombay, India, c.1910. 52 cards + joker. Elephant back design + an extra Deity back design on a spare card. All images courtesy Jon Randall.

FURTHER REFERENCES

Gordhandas, Kishor N.: Playing-cards article about Ravi Varma►

Gordhandas, Kishor N.: Raja Ravi Varma's Playing Cards►

Randall, Jon: Ravi Varma Playing Cards►

Indian Matchbox Labels

Above: assorted matchbox labels with suit symbols (not connected with Ravi Varma Press). Courtesy Rex Pitts.

33 Articles

By Jon Randall

Australia • Member since May 28, 2020 • Contact

From 6 or 7 years of age I enjoyed playing cards with my family, and still enjoy a variety of games today with various groups and individuals. I contribute my competitive nature to enjoying games … it’s not that I like to win, I dislike losing! I was barely 10 years old when my great Uncle left me a small collection of playing cards and that was the starting point of my collecting. The competitive streak in me helped develop me into a competitive swimmer that sent me to various places around the world, including a 6 year stint in the US, where for much of that time I was at university. I’ve always enjoyed car boots flea markets, yard sales, charity shops etc., and my eye would never miss a pack of playing cards. Even after my swimming career finished I coached at a high level for many years and continued enjoying the discovery of some great finds around the world. For decades my collection continued to grow, despite selling a portion of it via eBay over the years. It wasn’t until post 2010 that I realised, mostly due to correspondence with Australian friends, that there were so many single playing card collectors. This intrigued me. I had so many packs of cards at home that I made the bold decision to share a good number with singles collectors, and subsequently listed around 7000 for sale on eBay. That did make a dent in my collection, but there’s still around 30,000 packs taking up quite a bit of space at home. Crazy? Yes, but I’ve seen bigger hoards a few times! There’s so many I surprise myself finding packs I forgot I had when I look in a box I’d not seen in a while.

My eBay IDs if you’d like to look are “worldwide_playing_cards” & “playing_cards_world”►

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Ravi Varma Press

Indian Matchbox Labels

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