Chatham Historic Dockyard held a competition that invited members of the public to design a deck of playing cards, and BISON helped the winners’ vision come to life. These playing card decks were placed into a time capsule along with photographs, notes and memories from the renovation team, where they will stay for 100 years.
This competition was inspired by the discovery of the 1700’s Jack of Spades card during the renovation of the Commissioner’s house. Discovered beneath the original first floor, the fragile card had spent more than 200 years hidden in darkness before being carefully recovered, bagged and passed to the Collections Team for study.
Experts at the Worshipful Company of Playing Card Makers helped identify and date the piece to between 1725 and 1750, placing it in the era of Commissioner Thomas Kempthorne. Made from three layers of paper and printed with traditional wood blocks, the card carries the tell tale signs of early printing, including a misaligned red layer typical of the technique.
What makes this card especially intriguing is its unusual wear. Alongside the expected trimmed corners, it bears a series of straight, deliberate cuts packed with tiny feather fragments. The card’s curved shape suggests it may have been repurposed as a small hand held brush.
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