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Pack of playing cards - The Popish Plot
  • The Popish Plot
    Barlow, Francis, born 1621 - died 1704
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The Popish Plot

  • Object:

    Pack of playing cards

  • Place of origin:

    England, Great Britain (made)

  • Date:

    ca. 1679 (made)

  • Artist/Maker:

    Barlow, Francis, born 1621 - died 1704 (after, artist)
    Unknown (engraver)

  • Materials and Techniques:

    engraving print, ink on paper

  • Museum number:

    20366:1 to 52

  • Gallery location:

    British Galleries, room 54b, case 13 [playing card [3], playing card [9], playing card [10], playing card [14], playing card [15], playing card [24], playing card [25], playing card [27], playing card [30]]
    Prints & Drawings Study Room, level C, case MB2F, shelf SH66, box 98A2 [playing card [1], playing card [2], playing card [4], playing card [5], playing card [6], playing card [7], playing card [8], playing card [11], playing card [12], playing card [13], playing card [16], playing card [17], playing card [18], playing card [19], playing card [20], playing card [21], playing card [22], playing card [23], playing card [26], playing card [28], playing card [29], playing card [31], playing card [32], playing card [33], playing card [34], playing card [35], playing card [36], playing card [37], playing card [38], playing card [39], playing card [40], playing card [41], playing card [42], playing card [43], playing card [44], playing card [45], playing card [46], playing card [47], playing card [48], playing card [49], playing card [50], playing card [51], playing card [52]]

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Object Type
These playing cards are engravings. The images were made by cutting lines into the surface of a flat piece of metal, inking the plate and then transferring the ink held in the lines onto a sheet of paper. Francis Barlow's original drawings for the engravings are in the British Museum, London.

Subject
The Popish Plot was a fictitious Catholic conspiracy to kill Charles II that the Reverend Titus Oates claimed to have uncovered in 1678.The pictures on these cards tell the story of the plot and show the dire penalties meted out to alleged Roman Catholic enemies of the state. Sets of playing cards depicting historical events were very popular in the last quarter of the 17th century. There are other political packs from the time of the Popish Plot depicting 'All the Popish Plots' and the Rye House Plot, a conspiracy to assassinate Charles II and his brother, James, Duke of York.

Historical Context
There was great fear in Britain at the time of Catholic intrigue and a very real apprehension that on the death of Charles his Roman Catholic brother, James, would be placed on the throne. Prints were used to fuel public anxiety, and playing cards were another ideal means of spreading political propaganda at a low cost. Many packs were designed and engraved by leading artists of the day.

Physical description

'The Popish Plot'; Pack of 52 politico-historical playing cards, dealing with the Titus Oates conspiracy and the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey;

Place of Origin

England, Great Britain (made)

Date

ca. 1679 (made)

Artist/maker

Barlow, Francis, born 1621 - died 1704 (after, artist)
Unknown (engraver)

Materials and Techniques

engraving print, ink on paper

Marks and inscriptions

Lettered with captions and numerals.

Dimensions

Height: 8.8 cm each, Width: 5.2 cm each

Object history note

Made in England by an unknown engraver after pencil drawings by Francis Barlow (born, possibly in Lincolnshire, about 1626, died in London, 1704).

The designs for this pack are in an album of drawings in the British Museum (E Hodnett, Francis Barlow First Master of English Book Illustration, London 1978, pp.25, 26). The cards were available either as a pack or in two broadsheets ‘fit to adorn studios or houses’, at a cost of 8d each.

Thirty-six cards (from a pack of 52) have the same back pattern as this pack, and depict incidents in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, see E.1184-1219-1921.

Historical context note

The 'Popish Plot' was a fictitious conspiracy concocted by Titus Oates that gripped England in anti-Catholic hysteria between 1678 and 1681. Oates alleged that there was Catholic conspiracy to assassinate Charles II. The hysteria that these accusations generated, led to a 'purge', where almost anyone even suspected of being Catholic was driven out of London. It also resulted in the execution of at least 15 men and precipitated the Exclusion Bill Crisis. By mid-1681, public opinion was turning against Oates and he was arrested for sedition, fined and imprisoned.

Descriptive line

Pack of 52 politico-historical playing cards depicting 'The Popish Plot' (1678-1681); Backs with geometrical pattern; Lettered with captions and numerals; Engraving print on paper; By an unidentified engraver, after Francis Barlow; England; ca. 1679.

Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)

Hamilton, Jean. Playing Cards in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Victoria & Albert Museum. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. London, 1988. pp.39-40, ill.
The full text of the entry is as follows:

'7
BARLOW, Francis (c. 1626-1704),
After
‘The Popish Plot’. Pack of 52 politico-historical cards, dealing with the Titus Oates conspiracy and the murder of Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey. By an unidentified engraver after Francis Barlow. [Keller, ENG 77 (same back pattern) Willshire, E.186-188; Hoffman, 72a, 72c] Backs with geometrical pattern.
Lettered with captions and numerals.
Engravings. Each 8.8 x 5.2 cm.
Nos. 20366.1-52

The designs for this pack are in an album of drawings in the British Museum (E Hodnett, Francis Barlow First Master of English Book Illustration, London 1978, pp.25, 26). The cards were available either as a pack or in two broadsheets ‘fit to adorn studios or houses’, at a cost of 8d each.
There are several variations of this pack. An advertisement in The True Domestick Intelligencer, No.50, 26 December 1679, lists what is possibly the second of a series dealing with Popish Plots, ‘printed and sold by Robert Walton at the Globe on the north side of St. Paul’s Churchyard near the West End, where you may have a pack for eightpence of the very best; you may have them in sheets to adorn studios and houses’. (Catalogue of the Collection of Playing Cards of Various Ages and Countries formed by Henry D. Phillips, London, 1903, No.236.) Packs were also published by Jonathan Wilkins and Jacob Sampson, c. 1679.
See also ANONYMOUS: ENGLISH, last quarter of 17th century, and FACSIMILE & REPRODUCTION PACKS'

Note:
Keller refers to: Keller, W. A Catalogue of the Cary Collection of Playing Cards in the Yale University Library, Vols I-IV. New Haven, Yale University Library, 1981

Willshire refers to: Willshire, W. H. A Descriptive Catalogue of Playing and Other Cards in the British Museum accompanied by a Concise General History of the Subject and Remarks on Cards of Divination and of a Politico-Historical Character. London, British Museum, 1876

Hoffman refers to: Hoffman, D. Die Welt der Spielkarte Eine Kulturgeschichte. Munich, 1972
Hamilton, Jean. Playing Cards in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Victoria & Albert Museum. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. London, 1988. pp.14-15, ill.
The relevant text of the passage is as follows:

'Among the earliest English packs, which date to the late 17th and early 18th centuries, is the politico-historical Popish Plot (7), which deals with the Titus Oates conspiracy of 1678. There are variations of this pack, which is based on the pencil drawings of Francis Barlow.'
Hamilton, Jean. Playing Cards in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Victoria & Albert Museum. Her Majesty's Stationery Office. London, 1988. p.10.
The relevant text of the passage is as follows:

'Among the most interesting of the English packs of this period [late 17th century] are the politico-historical playing cards dealing with the Titus Oates conspiracy, known as ‘The Popish Plot’ (7). By an unidentified engraver (possibly James Kirkall), they are based on pencil designs by Francis Barlow, one of the earliest English Illustrators. There are variations of this pack: one advertised by Robert Walton ‘at the Globe on the north side of St. Paul’s Churchyard’, on 26 December 1679, is possibly the second of the series. Thirty-six cards (from a pack of 52) have the same back pattern as the Popish Plot pack, and depict incidents in the defeat of the Spanish Armada (167).'

Note: The reference to '167' should read as '169', which is the catalogue entry number for objects E.1184-1219-1921.
Urban, Sylvanus. Pictured Cards of the Popish plot. The Gentleman's Magazine. Volume XXXII. London : John Bowyer Nichols and Son, 1849 pp. 265-269, ill.
An article about a set of 'Popish Plot' playing cards that was 'recently exhibited to the Archaelogical Institute by Mr. B. Nightingale, and is now kindly placed in our hands by that gentleman.' With a list of what each single card depicts.

Labels and date

British Galleries:
These cards were probably published in late 1679, as rumours about the 'Popish Plot' grew. Surviving advertisements show that the cards were sold in packs, or in sheets 'to adorn studies and houses'. They cost eight old pence (just under 3p). The cards were so popular that at least three sets were published. [27/03/2003]

Production Note

Thirty-six cards have the same back pattern as this pack, and depict incidents in the defeat of the Spanish Armada, see E.1184-1219-1921.

Materials

Paper; Printing ink

Techniques

Engraving (printing process)

Subjects depicted

Geometric patterns

Categories

Christianity; Propaganda; Playing cards & Tarot cards

Collection code

PDP

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Qr_O77469
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