Merlin's Casket, 1850-1899
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1850-1899
Merlin's Casket is a fortune telling game where the answer to the question may turn out to be straightforward or amusing. As well as normal playing cards, many other card games became popular during the nineteenth century. These were relatively cheap and easy to produce and compared with many other games and toys available at this time, were affordable to a wider section of society.
Playing cards were often associated with gambling so other types of card games were devised for family and social use. Riddles and fortune telling were among the most popular. A card game; black ink printed onto cream coloured cards. Comprises a 'DIRECTIONS FOR PLAYING THE GAME' card detailing the game play; a 'QUESTIONS' card with numbered questions printed in small typeface and listed in two columns; fifty slightly smaller cards, all the same size and each one numbered at the top with a list of twelve, numbered answers.
The scanned image shows six answer cards out of the total of fifty.
Evidence at a glance
- Linked sources
- 1
- Photograph views
- 1
- Catalogue references
- 0
Counts describe this entry’s documentation, not authenticity, rarity or completeness. Photographs may show one specimen; check each caption and licence.
Physical characteristics
- Dimensions
- Length: 11.5 cm; Width: 8.3 cm; Length: 11.4 cm; Length: 8.3 cm; Width: 5.7 cm
- Materials and techniques
- black ink printed onto card
Technical characteristics
- Place recorded
- England
Design
- Marks and inscriptions
- 'MERLIN'S CASKET / DIRECTIONS FOR PLAYING THE GAME.'; QUESTIONS
Identification
- Candidate id
- vam-O1377004
- Museum object number
- B.537:1 to 52-2016
- Source note
- Facts transcribed from the linked single-object source. Wider type attribution and authenticity have not been independently verified.
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.
Research required
- Research required: confirm the wider type and source attribution against specialist references.