Hand-drawn set of 52 playing cards

A complete pack of 52 fanciful playing-cards from the British Museum Schreiber collection, drawn by an amateur artist in watercolour, pen and ink. The cards have representations of a great variety of subjects, chiefly natural history and botany, but also one or two soldiers, 8 sailboats, rural scenes and allegories, while the value of each card is indicated by a miniature card in the upper right-hand corner. These miniature cards have full-length English courts and one-way pips and only the ace of spades has extra decoration. The initials "G R" are inscribed in pen, ink and watercolour on the drum carried by the soldier on the ace of clubs. There are no further inscriptions or titles which might have suggested a use such as cartomancy, except an illegible inscription on the jack of spades. The backs are plain.

Above: 52 hand drawn cards, plain backs, 18th century, 60x80 mm. © The Trustees of the British Museum • Number 1896,0501.982►

Reference

O’Donoghue, Freeman M: Catalogue of the collection of playing cards bequeathed by Lady Charlotte Schreiber (English 80), Trustees of the British Museum, London, 1901 [digital version here]