Fabergé playing cards
Kollektsiya Faberzhe karty igral’nye (Fabergé playing cards), Russia, 2005.
Another beautifully produced pack from Printissa, St. Petersburg, 2005. Each of the 52 cards and two jokers show an exquisite work of the House of Fabergé.
Karl Fabergé is best known for the famous Fabergé eggs made in the style of genuine Easter eggs but using precious metals and gemstones rather than more mundane materials. But he also made many more objects ranging from silver tableware to fine jewellery which were also of exceptional quality and beauty. Many of the eggs are shown in this pack together with a variety of other items including cigarette cases, scent flasks, cups, watches and broaches.
Above: Fabergé playing cards produced by Printissa, St. Petersburg, 2005. 52 cards + 2 jokers.
By Peter Burnett
United Kingdom • Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
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