Music on Playing Cards
Music has played an important cultural and social function since prehistoric times. It helps form tribal bonds and enhances religious and spiritual practices. All kinds of music are depicted on playing cards and card games, from opera to popular music, ancient and contemporary.
Leadmill playing cards
Promotional pack for an arts centre in Sheffield with designs by Martin F. Bedford.
Löjliga Spel Kort
Facsimile edition of “Löjliga Spel Kort” (1825) illustrated playing cards from Sweden, showing scenes from Fredman‘s Epistles and Songs
Löschenkohl’s Musical Playing Cards
Johann Hieronymus Löschenkohl (1753-1807) produced a copper engraved deck of playing cards titled “Das Musikalische Kartenspiel” in 1806.
Milonguita
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by Simon Wintle
Naipes de Poker “Milonguita” featuring early Tango music score covers, Gardés Editorial, 2003.
Musikalisches Kartenspiel
Facsimile of Dondorf’s “Musikalisches Kartenspiel” (c.1862) published by Lo Scarabeo, 2004
New Musical Express
54 black and white photographs of solo singers, duos and groups popular around 1990.
Parisian Actors and Opera Singers
Extraordinary ‘Actors and Opera Singers’ deck printed by Avril et Cie, Paris, c.1865
Pop Rocky
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by Simon Wintle
“Pop Rocky” miniature playing cards with double-ended caricatures of celebrities and pop stars, originally published inside a magazine, c.1970.