Russian folk art playing cards
Russian folk art playing cards produced by Natalia Silva, USA, 2017.
This striking deck is inspired by traditional Russian wood painting style and national ornament – Khokhloma -- known for it's vivid flower patterns, red and gold colours over a black background. Motifs used in painting are mainly natural: grass, flowers, berries and birds. A limited edition was produced by Natalia Silva in March 2016 as a “collector’s edition” of 75 copies. Due its success a larger, limited edition of 1000 copies was produced via Kickstarter by Ms. Silva in 2017 and printed by the USPCC.
The 54 cards present folk instruments and dances, symbols and mythological characters, clothing accessories, flowers and the ubiquitous matryoshkas against a black background. with a traditional floral multi-coloured pattern on the reverse. The court cards have the Cyrillic abbreviations (T - Tuz, K - Karol’, D - Dama and B- Valet), and the suits are brightly coloured: spades and clubs – yellow; hearts and diamonds – red. The tuck box displays in Russian “Ogranichennoe izdanie” (limited edition).
Above: Russian folk art playing cards produced by Natalia Silva and printed by USPCC, USA, 2017.
See the box►
By Peter Burnett
Member since July 27, 2022
I graduated in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University in 1969. It was as an undergraduate in Moscow in 1968 that I stumbled upon my first 3 packs of “unusual” playing cards which fired my curiosity and thence my life-long interest. I began researching and collecting cards in the early 1970s, since when I’ve acquired over 3,330 packs of non-standard cards, mainly from North America, UK and Western Europe, and of course from Russia and the former communist countries.
Following my retirement from the Bodleian Library in Dec. 2007 I took up a new role as Head of Library Development at the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) to support library development in low-income countries. This work necessitated regular training visits to many sub-Saharan African countries and also further afield, to Vietnam, Nepal and Bangladesh – all of which provided rich opportunities to further expand my playing card collection.
Since 2019 I’ve been working part-time in the Bodleian Library where I’ve been cataloguing the bequest of the late Donald Welsh, founder of the English Playing Card Society.
Related Articles
International pattern from Russia
Colourful international pattern cards from Russia sold in Latvia.
Get Decked
Black and white cartoons devised by Sam Wagner with help from artist Lindsay Bevington.
Kazakh Tales
Bold designs by K.K. Karpun and S. Nukenov inspired by Kazakh folk tales.
Justice playing cards
Ethical concepts in a deck produced by Riccardo Conturbia’s Passione Playing Cards Ltd.
Beowulf
Jackson Robinson's Beowulf playing card deck inspired by the Old English pagan poem.
Egyptium
“Egyptium” is a hand-illustrated deck of fantasy playing cards with artwork by Russian artist Oleg S...
Keith Haring playing cards
Energetic graffiti images by the American artist Keith Haring.
The Tarot of Meditation – Yeager Tarot
Marty Yeager’s original Tarot of Meditation from 1975, republished later by U.S. Games Systems, Inc....
Adobe Deck
The first digitally-produced deck of cards.
Seminole Wars deck
Seminole Wars deck by J. Y. Humphreys, Philadelphia, c.1819.
The UCR Deck
Giant-size cards designed by Thomas Sanders to advertise courses and facilities at UCR.
Fredericks & Mae playing cards
A rainbow pack from the design team of Fredericks & Mae and Benjamin English.
Red Hat Society playing cards
Society that encourages women in their quest to get the most out of life.
Russian Circus deck
The Russian Circus deck published by the Imperial Playing Card Factory, St Petersburg.
Czech Bohemian style playing cards
Czech Bohemian style playing cards with a charming aesthetic, reflecting the cultural and social lif...
Mountain Dream Tarot
Groundbreaking Tarot created by Bea Nettles, using photographs and photo montage.
Most Popular
Our top articles from the past 28 days
