The Art of Erté

Published June 10, 2024 • Updated June 10, 2024

Luxury playing cards displaying artwork by Erté, published in 1983 by Sobranie of London.

This beautiful pack of cards was designed by Erté (1892-1990), printed by Carta Mundi, and published in 1983 by Sobranie of London. It was originally produced as a double pack, one with white backs and the second with black backs, and together with a 163-page book entitled "The Art of Erté", they were housed together in a large black lacquered box. Each gilt-edged pack was encased in its own smaller black lacquered box, with a jester on the front. (This same jester is also depicted on the two jokers).

The cards display the artwork of Erté against a black background. While the aces are different (as too are the flags held by the jacks), the artwork on the courts and pip cards is otherwise the same on each suit. All cards have Erté's signature. The pack has 52 cards, plus 2 jokers.

The Art of Erté playing cards published in 1983 by Sobranie of London

Above: The Art of Erté playing cards published in 1983 by Sobranie of London. 52 cards plus 2 jokers.

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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.

• Russian Playing Cards

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.

Activity for The Art of Erté

Zods Emiq

12 September 2024, 05:34

I have these 2-pack of the playing cards with the cute book, although I lost the main big box that holds the three items. Got them as free gift when I purchased Sobrannie cocktail cigarettes at Changi Airport back in early 2000s (stopped smoking in 2008).