Beautiful collection of 154 playing cards as-nâs, Iran qâjâr, 19th and 20th century
Playing cards made of bone or bakelite and papier-mâché painted with a decoration on one side, the back black, the whole lacquered. A series of the XIXth century, some cards dated 1305 (?) H/1887 and 1312 H/1894, depicting Iranian (Bibi) or European elegant women, some standing, some seated, some alone, some with a child or a bird, some serving themselves a drink or enjoying a beverage, some embraced by a man; Other cards are decorated with men, Iranian or European, elegant sitting on a throne, soldiers armed with rifles (Serbaz), horsemen sometimes chasing a lion, and finally several cards showing a fight between a lion and a dragon (Ace). A second series of the twentieth century, of smaller format, presents portraits of men and women in bust, some captioned such as Shah 'Abbas, also some figures of dancers in foot, and several with the Iranian symbol of the solar Lion brandishing a sword and surmounted by a crown. Several cards in multiple copies.
Approximately 6 x 4 cm and 5.5 x 4 cm
Good condition, a few accidents, eight cards framed (two frames).
The game of As-Nas is a very old card game of Persian origin. Its popularity in Iran is such that the Persian word "as-Nas" refers to both the game and the playing card itself. The game of As-Nas is a gambling game involving bets and wagers that can be considered the ancestor of poker. Several renowned institutions preserve cards such as the Musée Français de la Carte à Jouer (Issy-les-Moulineaux), the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris), the British Museum (London) or the Moghadam Museum (Tehran).
154 Qajar As-Nas playing cards, Iran, 19th and 20th century
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