Playing card

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This is the four of spades, one of a pack of 53 playing cards engraved in 1691 by Walter Scott, an Edinburgh goldsmith. The cards show the royal arms and arms of the Scottish nobility who sat in Parliament.

The arms of the Scottish Lords Forbes, Fraser, Gray and Cathcart are depicted on this card.

Today, the geography of Europe of three or four hundred years ago is reflected in playing cards. There are similarities in packs from Macau and Brazil - both influenced by a Portuguese design from colonial times.

Record details

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• Online ID: 000-190-000-821-C
• Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
• Project: National Museums Scotland
  Project description   View all records in project
• Ref: National Museums Scotland  H.NS 211
• Date: 1691
  
• Material: Card, playing / photograph
  
• Dimensions: 80 mm H x 60 mm W
  
• What: Card, playing / photograph
  
• Subject:
• Who: Lyon Office
  Walter Scott, Edinburgh (Maker)
  
• Where: Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh
  
• Event:
• Description: Pack of playing-cards with the arms of the Scottish nobility, by Walter Scott, Edinburgh, 1691, comprising 53 cards in all together with a photograph of the missing seven of hearts
  
• References:
  • Mann, Sylvia. Collecting Paying Cards. USA: Bell Publishing Company Inc. 1967, p 10. 
• Translations:
• Related Records: