Russian Emperors
Russian Emperors playing cards / “Rossiiskie imperatory karty igral’nye” produced and illustrated by Aleksei Orleanskii, 2006.
The court cards depict the Tsars and Empresses, each named in both English and Cyrillic, with dates of birth/death and the period of their reign. The Jokers depict: Ivan Balakirev (1699–1763, a court jester to Peter the Great); Iakov Turgenev (also a court jester to Peter the Great); and Andrei Besiashchii (1667-1732, also known as Andrei Apraksin)
Above: Russian Emperors playing cards / “Rossiiskie imperatory karty igral’nye” produced and illustrated by Aleksei Orleanskii, 2006. 36 cards + 3 jokers, limited run of 1000.
By Peter Burnett
Member since July 27, 2022
View ArticlesAn avid playing card collector since the early 1970s. While the bulk of my collection originates from the UK, Western Europe and the USA, I have always had a “soft spot” for Russian packs - in part because I studied Russian at both school and University in the 1960s, and also because it was in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest.
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