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HomeExploreGamesHistoric Playing Cards and Tarot Decks
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See how card makers turned paper into objects for play and fortune-telling. These cards and decks range from painted court commissions to prints made for everyday games. Look for the suits, printing techniques, and details that tell you where a deck came from and how it was used.

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Images16

1
Visconti-Sforza Tarot
Visconti-Sforza Tarot: A pope in a triple crown raises his hand in blessing on this gilded Milanese trump. The deck was…
2
Cary-Yale Tarot
Cary-Yale Tarot: The figure on Hope clasps her hands above a reclining man, framed by an intricate gold ground. Hope is one…
3
Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot
Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot: A blindfolded figure stands bound among upright blades in Pamela Colman Smith’s Eight of Swords…
4
Jean Noblet’s Tarot de Marseille
Jean Noblet’s Tarot de Marseille: A conjurer stands at a table with dice and cups in Jean Noblet’s Le Bateleur, the first…
5
Ambraser Hofjagdspiel
Ambraser Hofjagdspiel: A gold-and-black falconry lure appears on a red banner in this hand-painted card. Vienna’s…
6
Sola Busca Tarot
Sola Busca Tarot: Three blades pierce a heart on this card from the Sola Busca tarot, a northern Italian deck from the late…
7
Topkapı Mamluk Playing Cards
Topkapı Mamluk Playing Cards: Coins, polo sticks, cups, and swords appear on these four Mamluk playing cards from around…
8
The Cloisters Playing Cards
The Cloisters Playing Cards: Four little dog collars mark this card from a South Netherlandish deck dated about 1475–80…
9
Master of the Playing Cards
Master of the Playing Cards: Flowers surround a crowned figure in this engraving dating to about 1435–40. The Met’s Queen…
10
Indian Ganjifa
Indian Ganjifa: These round, painted Indian cards belong to a ten-suit ganjifa pack. Each suit in this version corresponds…
11
Thoth Tarot
Thoth Tarot: Frieda Harris painted this study for the Magus while developing the Thoth Tarot with Aleister Crowley between…
12
Japanese Hanafuda
Japanese Hanafuda: A boar among bush clover marks this hanafuda card from the Horniman Museum’s collection. Hanafuda means…
13
French Revolutionary Piquet Cards
French Revolutionary Piquet Cards: These French cards from 1793–94 were printed from woodcuts and colored by stencil…
14
Etteilla’s Livre de Thot
Etteilla’s Livre de Thot: Seabirds, a crocodile, and a curling snake fill this hand-colored engraving. The French card…
15
Bicycle Rider Back
Bicycle Rider Back: Two mirrored cyclists anchor the red Rider Back pattern, introduced in 1887 by the Russell & Morgan…
16
Chinese Kuanpai Cards
Chinese Kuanpai Cards: Long, narrow cards carry Chinese characters, figures, and repeating decorative patterns in this…

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