The Mythological Zoo Playing Cards

[Playing Cards] [Myth] [Folk Art]

The Mythological Zoo 

1971.Cards are unsealed but in pristine condition. The slightest bit of rubbing to the jack of diamonds "nose".

The deck was published in 1971 in two separate editions by Dick Martin for the 20th anniversary of the Chicago Playing Card Collectors club. The is the black and white version and is numbered #35/200. The hand colored version, was published in a signed edition of 100 copies only. 

From the foreword of the booklet: "Since the dawn of history man has been fascinated by animals. In ancient times he endowed them with magical significance; they were objects of his fear, his love and even his worship. And when man had exhausted the possibilities of all known species, he invented new ones. Thus were born the Griffin and the Unicorn and all the other Fabulous Beasts of mythology.

Most of these fanciful animals were hybrids, or combinations of beast, bird and fish. Ancient manmade many of his gods in his own image too, of course; and eventual amalgamation of man-god and beast-god was inevitable - producing some magnificently fantastic creatures. All these semi-human deities can be classified as fabulous beasts and placed, along with the Mermaid and the Centaur, in our "Mythological Zoo".

A stunning piece of American folk art circa 1971. The world of playing cards is deep and fascinating and this stunning piece of vernacular art is but one example. 

Plenty of detail available here: http://www.dxpo-playingcards.com/xpo/art/dickm-02.htm