Wren 300 playing cards
Papercuts by Chloe Campbell of the 52 Wren churches in the City of London.
Chloe Campbell is a young British artist who specialises in papercuts, drawings and prints of architecture. For Wren 300 – the celebration of the tercentenary of Sir Christopher Wren’s death – she created papercuts of all 52 of the Wren churches in the City of London, including those that no longer exist and one which was taken down and rebuilt in Fulton, Missouri. These designs were used for the present pack, the order of the cards being decided by the date of the Feast Day of the Saint of each church. The black suits are printed in black and the red suits in red. Temple Bar and The Monument are featured on the two Jokers as they were also designed by Wren but are not churches. St Paul’s Cathedral has been used for the back design. See the box►
The first, numbered edition of 100 packs sold out at the private view of Chloe Campbell and James Newton’s exhibition Wren on Paper in September 2023. The cards have been so popular that, at the time of writing (January 2024), they are already into their fourth edition.
Above: Wren 300 playing cards designed and published by Chloe Campbell Art Ltd, Withyham, UK, 2023. 52 cards + 2 Jokers + 1 extra card in tuck box. Size: 63 x 88 mm. Printer unknown. © Chloe Campbell Art Ltd 2023.
Packs (fourth edition) can be ordered here - www.chloecampbellart.com►
By Roddy Somerville
Member since May 31, 2022
Roddy started collecting stamps on his 8th birthday. In 1977 he joined the newly formed playing-card department at Stanley Gibbons in London before setting up his own business in Edinburgh four years later. His collecting interests include playing cards, postcards, stamps (especially playing cards on stamps) and sugar wrappers. He is a Past President of the Scottish Philatelic Society, a former Chairman of the IPCS, a Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards and Curator of the WCMPC’s collection of playing cards. He lives near Toulouse in France.
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