An extraordinary exhibition of playing cards from the late Middle Ages opened at the Cloisters last night. It was an honor to be invited by curator Timothy B. Husband to perform card magic at the opening reception. I used a facsimile of a deck known as the Cloisters Playing Cards from the Burgundian Netherlands (ca. 1475–80), which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is the only complete deck from the period, consisting of 52 hand-painted cards with four suits pertaining to the hunt: Collars (for dogs), Tethers (for hounds), Horns (for hunting), and Nooses (for suspending birds or small game from the belt).
You can read a nice New York Times review of the exhibition here.
You can read a nice New York Times review of the exhibition here.
With curator Timothy B. Husband, who is holding the 10 of Horns.
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