Looking at the materials behind old playing cards

A card is a physical object

When you look at a tarot card, a figure or a number may catch your eye first. That image is also part of a physical object, with a surface, a base, and colors. Pausing over those features gives you another way to explore a deck, through how it was made.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art dates its Cloisters Playing Cards to around 1475–1480. The record describes four layers of pasteboard, with pen and ink, opaque paint, glazes, and applied silver and gold. These are ordinary playing cards. Their materials give us an example to compare with a tarot deck.

Observe the surface gently

For this exercise, take a card from a deck you already use and look at it in the light you normally use. You can work from a photo, too. You do not need to bend or scratch the card or apply anything to its surface.

Write down what you can see directly, such as a glossy or matte surface, a pale border, or an area of printed color. Keep the observation separate from any claim about the material. A yellow reflection does not establish the presence of gold. A photograph alone cannot tell you what the paper is made of. Look to the maker’s notes or a collection record for that information.

Imagine a card on a different surface

On a separate sheet, imagine your own card. What would change if the background looked like cloth, wood, or a painted wall? Describe the effect in a few lines. You can explore the idea without altering a deck or buying another one.

In a fictional example, someone draws a star against a texture that resembles corrugated cardboard. The lines suggest a landscape of hills. Against a smooth background, the same star becomes a simple poster. Those choices lead to two different compositions.

Keep three short notes

Finish with three short phrases: “I see…,” “The record says…,” and “I’m imagining….” Leave the second line blank if you have no record. Keep your sketch with the deck name and the illustrator’s name if you know it. The exercise gives you a starting point for noticing how objects are made and creating an image of your own.