Beschreibung:

Queen Victoria & Prince Albert commemorative playing cards, 1839, fifty-two chromolithographed playing cards, comprising four suits of thirteen, each with ten pip cards, and three full-length court cards, dusty, pale blue versos with royal coat-of-arms in gilt (some minor rubbing of gilt in places), duty ace and armorial backs designed by Owen Jones gilt edges, 92 x 64mm (3.5 x 2.5ins), housed in a Victorian ebonised wooden card box, lid hand-painted with a playing card, lily-of-the-valley, and violets Berry, Playing Cards of the World, 1028. Rare pack of playing cards made in 1839 to celebrate the marriage of Victoria and Albert, whose coat of arms adorns the backs. The imprint on the duty ace refers to 'His' Majesty; it was at the request of Queen Victoria that this was left on as a mark of respect to her Uncle, William IV. There was a double-ended pack made for the Great Exhibition of 1851 which was withdrawn at the Queen's request and not sold on the open market (see 'The Playing Card', March 2005). Apart from being double-ended it was an exact copy of this single-ended pack. 'The House of De La Rue', published on the publisher's 125th anniversary in 1957, states that this design was "Reserved by Royal Command". The British Museum has such a set, with double-ended courts, which was bequeathed by Lady Schreiber (Schreiber 5: incomplete, lacking the three of clubs). The V&A has a single-ended pack with this back design, as did the Kaplan Collection. However both packs are narrow decks, so that the coat of arms is more oval-shaped. (1)