Additional Content on Playing Cards

Images

Unusual circular playing cards. Chatto provides the engravings and ascribes them to an unknown German or Flemish artist of the 15th century. He identifies these eight as (left to right, top to bottom) : the King, Queen, and Ace of Hares; the Squire of Columbines; the Deuce and Squire of Pinks; the Knave and Nine of "Parroquets".

Some nicer reproductions of four other cards from that set, provided by Singer.

The Five through Ten of Acorns, from a set of simple stenciled cards discovered bound into the cover of a late medieval book. Provided by Singer.

Particularly elaborate card engravings, provided by Singer. Here we see the Six of Roses and the Five of Leaves.

Playing cards from Mamluk Egypt. From left to right are the Six of Coins, Ten of Polo Sticks, Three of Cups, and Seven of Swords. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

A suit of cards from a Chinese deck that Breitkopf described as showing "a kind of worm with the head like a bird", that Singer believed to depict bamboo, and which we now know to be [SPOILERS]

An attempt to reinvent the face cards during the French Revolution by replacing the Kings, Queens, and Knaves with Spirits, Liberties, and Equalities. More information on these can be found here.

A Portuguese Ace of Swords, featuring a dragon. (A wyrm with the head like a bird, if you will.) Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

An Incomplete List of Attested Suits

1. Acorns

2. Antelopes

3. Apes

4. Armored Warriors

5. Arrows

6. Axes

7. Batons

8. Bears

9. Beasts

10. Bells

11. Bills

12. Birds

13. Boars

14. Boats

15. Books

16. Cakes

17. Cats

18. Cloth

19. Clouds

20. Clovers

21. Clubs

22. Coins

23. Columbines

24. Conchs

25. Crayfish

26. Crescents

27. Crowns

28. Crows

29. Cups

30. Cushions

31. Deer

32. Diamonds

33. Divinities

34. Dogs

35. Dragon Heads

36. Dragon Tails

37. Dragons

38. Drums

39. Ducks

40. Dwarves

41. Eagles

42. Elephants

43. Falcons

44. Feathers

45. Fish

46. Flowers

47. Foot Soldiers

48. Forts

49. Frogs

50. Genii

51. Goats

52. Goblets

53. Golds

54. Grasshoppers

55. Hares

56. Harps

57. Hats

58. Hearts

59. Herons

60. Horses

61. Hounds

62. Humans

63. Inking-Balls

64. Jupiter

65. Keys

66. Leaves

67. Leopards

68. Lions

69. Loaves

70. Lotuses

71. Maces

72. Mars

73. Men

74. Mercury

75. Mirrors

76. Monkeys

77. Moons

78. Myriads

79. Parasols

80. Parrots

81. Peacocks

82. Pentacles

83. Pestles

84. Pheasants

85. Picks

86. Pigeons

87. Pikes

88. Pillars

89. Pinks

90. Pinnacles

91. Plates

92. Ploughs

93. Polo Sticks

94. Pomegranates

95. Purses

96. Rabbits

97. Red Coins

98. Roses

99. Saturn

100. Scorpions

101. Serpents

102. Shields

103. Slaves

104. Snakes

105. Spades

106. Stags

107. Stars

108. Staves

109. Strings

110. Suns

111. Swastikas

112. Swords

113. Ten Myriads

114. Tigers

115. Tiles

116. Tortoises

117. Treasures

118. Turbans

119. Venus

120. Wands

121. Water Pots

122. White Coins

123. Wine-pots

124. Women