Irish Playing Cards
Playing card designs based on motifs from early Irish manuscripts and metalwork.
“Irish Playing Cards”
Playing card designs based on motifs from early Irish manuscripts and metalwork. See the extra card►
Above: playing card designs based on motifs from early Irish manuscripts and metalwork. Created and designed by Philip Murphy and Catherine Treacy. Produced for Dechtire Design, made in Belgium.
By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
I am the founder of The World of Playing Cards (est. 1996), a website dedicated to the history, artistry and cultural significance of playing cards and tarot. Over the years I have researched various areas of the subject, acquired and traded collections and contributed as a committee member of the IPCS and graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal. Having lived in Chile, England, Wales, and now Spain, these experiences have shaped my work and passion for playing cards. Amongst my achievements is producing a limited-edition replica of a 17th-century English pack using woodblocks and stencils—a labour of love. Today, the World of Playing Cards is a global collaborative project, with my son Adam serving as the technical driving force behind its development. His innovative efforts have helped shape the site into the thriving hub it is today. You are warmly invited to become a contributor and share your enthusiasm.
Related Articles
Modern Swiss-German Pattern (carta.media)
Modernizing tradition: balancing clarity and continuity in regional card design.
Tactics Design
Late modernist Japanese playing cards designed by Masayoshi Nakajo for Tactics Design.
Nimbus playing cards
Mike Steer’s weather-themed pack with suits in four colours and backs for cardistry.
The Decadent Deck
Studies in the eroticism of the female body by Inge Clayton.
Historic Shakespeare
“Historic Shakespeare” playing cards featuring Shakespearean characters by Chas Goodall & Son.
Sunday Night / Nichiyoubi no Yoru
An irreverent, avant-garde deck unofficially titled "Nichiyoubi no Yoru" (Sunday Night), designed by...
Emilio Tadini playing cards
Beautiful dreamlike playing card designs by Emilio Tadini.
Zürcher Festspiel 1903
Swiss-suited pack designed by Robert Hardmeyer featuring figures from art and politics.
Never Mind the Belote
Limited edition Belote pack with designs by a collective of 24 street artists.
Playing card designs by Franz Exler
Reconstruction of playing cards from the original 1903 designs.
MITSCHKAtzen
Clever cat designs by the Austrian artist and illustrator Willi Mitschka.
22 Pittori in 22 Arcani
Collaborative Tarot with contributions from 22 different Italian artists including Menegazzi and Tav...
Whist by Ditha Moser
Ditha Moser created this minimalist Whist deck in 1905, in the style of the Vienna Secession art mov...
Keith Haring playing cards
Energetic graffiti images by the American artist Keith Haring.
Barok
Dutch pack from the 1950s with colourful Baroque courts, reprinted in 1983.
Carte di Natale
Designed by Pier Canosa as a Christmas pack for the Cortina Art Gallery in Milan.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
