The Knave of Bells
Playing Card
1546-1550 (made)
1546-1550 (made)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
Woodcut playing card showing a military figure firing a crossbow with the symbol of a bell in the bottom righthand corner.
Object details
Categories | |
Object type | |
Title | The Knave of Bells (generic title) |
Materials and techniques | woodcut with hand-applied wash |
Brief description | Woodcut, with hand-applied wash. In the style of Clas Oth. Playing card, probably Nuremberg, 1546-1550. |
Physical description | Woodcut playing card showing a military figure firing a crossbow with the symbol of a bell in the bottom righthand corner. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Gallery label | Playing cards were among the earliest woodcut
prints, with the first reference to them dating to about 1430. These cards feature German suits – hearts, bells, acorns and leaves – and are similar to ones made by Clas Oth, a specialist card maker working in Nuremberg. For economy and speed, card makers printed an entire deck on a single sheet of paper and hand-coloured them using shaped stencils.(August 2019) |
Credit line | purchased under the bequest of Capt. H.B. Murray |
Subject depicted | |
Bibliographic reference | Jean Hamilton, Playing cards in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1988, pp 8-9 |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.989-1920 |
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Record created | May 9, 2005 |
Record URL |
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