IDENTIFIERS ----------- id: 225218 accession number: P.14638-R(3) DATE AUDIT ---------- created: Wednesday 5 September 2018 updated: Monday 2 October 2023 DESCRIPTIVE DATA ---------------- object type: A hand-coloured woodcut on pasteboard laid down on a large piece of mount board (height 407mm x 277mm) with six other cards from the same pack. A partial playing card which has been cut down along the upper edge. A male figure (head cut off by the loss along the upper edge), facing right and wearing a short tunic with ruff-like collar around his neck and a long sack or bag sleeve on his right arm which holds a pike or halberd. The imposts below an archway (cut off here but seen in P.14638-R(4), the Jack of Diamonds) are visible at upper left and right. Although only the lower half of the suit marker is visible at upper right, the shape most closely matches Spades ('Piques'). A printed inscription along the right edge in Old French: 'Sanson', which probably relates to the biblical name, Sampson or Samson, the character from the Old Testament. The name 'Sanson' or Samson follows the trait unique to French playing cards of associating the face cards with historical or mythical personages, but does not relate to the name usually associated with the Jack of Spades (Hogier). Prior to 1613, the Jack of Clubs was associated with the name Judas Maccabeus, and so it is possible that the Jack of Spades may also have been associated originally with a name other than Hogier. The style of the designs, especially in the facial features and hair, is very similar to those made by Jehan Faucil in Rouen in France during the 16th century. Faucil was active there c.1540-c.1560. See uncut and uncoloured sheets in the British Museum collection: 1851,0208.13-18. A handwritten inscription in graphite at lower right on the recto of the mount board: 'From the Brent Eleigh Library: found / shut up between the leaves of a book. / 1891'. Another inscription in graphite in a different hand (probably Eric Chamberlain, Assistant Keeper of Prints, 1962-1975) on the verso of the mount board: 'French / ?early 16th century'. title: playing card LICENSING --------- text license status: CC0 image license status: CC-BY-NC-SA OWNERSHIP --------- instutition: The Fitzwilliam Museum department: Paintings, Drawings and Prints creditline: unknown STABLE URL ---------- url: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/225218 TECHNIQUES ---------- hand colouring TECHNIQUES ---------- woodcut CATEGORIES ------ category: print DATING ------ creation date: 1540 - 1560 creation date earliest: 1540 creation date latest: 1560 culture: 16th Century CREATORS -------- maker: Unknown maker: Unknown