Playing Cards — "Delightful Cards"

Jaime Ortiz-Patiño (Sotheby's, London, 10 December 2013, English literature, history, children's books and illustrations, lot 235)

Acquired at the above sale by the present collector

Jaime Ortiz-Patiño Collection of Early Playing Cards, #50

A rare, charming, oftentimes satirical deck of playing cards published by the prolific London cardmaker John Lenthall. Each card contains a miniature image of a standard playing card in the upper left, an illustration in the center, and a moral in the form of a rhyming couplet at the bottom. The verses and illustrations draw on a wide variety of sources for their inspiration, including contemporary life and events in England, popular theatre, Classical mythology, and accounts of voyages and travels.

Notably, the Jack (or Knave) of Hearts features a caricature of Colonel John Hewson, the London shoemaker who became one of Cromwell's most trusted supporters, and was a signer of King Charles I's death warrant. He is shown holding a sword, the traditional attribute of a Jack, but also a reference to his role in a regicide. The humorous poem beneath Hewson accuses him of associating with knaves, and being one too. The Four of Clubs shows a gambler who, having lost all his money, throws down his dice and cards while a charitable friend offers him a purse — "You seem to be craisy, at ye loss of your coin / If you want money, take some of mine."