Palladin

Published December 14, 2017 • Updated March 24, 2023

Palladin Parlour & Playing Cards by Laura Sutherland, published by Palladin Paperworks, Santa Cruz CA., 1983.

Palladin by Laura Sutherland, published by Palladin Paperworks, Santa Cruz CA, 1983

Palladin Parlour & Playing Cards by Laura Sutherland, published by Palladin Paperworks, Santa Cruz CA., 1983. This is a sort of “transformed” deck, and the cards contain hidden puns, stories and wordplays, as well as ingenious use of the suit symbols. See the box and info card►

According to the artist, “there were two editions of this deck. The first edition was called Sutherland-Brown Playing Cards and the cards were pretty crude as they were cut by a round corner machine – that was in 1977. The second edition was printed a few years later and in a slightly larger edition – Palladin Playing Cards – which is what you have. They were manufactured by a regulation card printing company so the decks were cut as a whole deck by a machine and they are the proper size, etc.” Source here►

Above: Palladin Parlour & Playing Cards by Laura Sutherland, published by Palladin Paperworks, Santa Cruz CA., second edition 1983.

Update from Peter Burnett

I actually have the 1st edition, 1977. While the cards are identical, the backs, box and extra card are different. In 1977 she was called Sutherland-Brown - PB.

Palladin by Laura Sutherland-Brown, 1st edition, 1977

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By Rex Pitts (1940-2021)

United Kingdom • Member since January 30, 2009

Rex's main interest was in card games, because, he said, they were cheap and easy to get hold of in his early days of collecting. He is well known for his extensive knowledge of Pepys games and his book is on the bookshelves of many. His other interest was non-standard playing cards. He also had collections of sheet music, music CDs, models of London buses, London Transport timetables and maps and other objects that intrigued him.

Rex had a chequered career at school. He was expelled twice, on one occasion for smoking! Despite this he trained as a radio engineer and worked for the BBC in the World Service. Later he moved into sales and worked for a firm that made all kinds of packaging, a job he enjoyed until his retirement. He became an expert on boxes and would always investigate those that held his cards. He could always recognize a box made for Pepys, which were the same as those of Alf Cooke’s Universal Playing Card Company, who printed the card games. This interest changed into an ability to make and mend boxes, which he did with great dexterity. He loved this kind of handicraft work.

His dexterity of hand and eye soon led to his making card games of his own design. He spent hours and hours carefully cutting them out and colouring them by hand.