Playing card, The Knave of Acorns, Oth, Clas, Nuremberg, 1546-1550
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1546-1550
Hand coloured woodcut playing card showing a male figure in a wide-sleeved tunic with shoulder length hair holding an acorn symbol. Playing cards were among the earliest woodcut prints, with the first reference to them dating to about 1430. These cards feature German suits – hearts, bells, acorns and leaves – and are similar to ones made by Clas Oth, a specialist card maker working in Nuremberg. For economy and speed, card makers printed an entire deck on a single sheet of paper and hand-coloured them using shaped stencils.
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
- Height: 7.3 cm; Width: 4.8 cm
- Materials and techniques
- Hand coloured woodcut
Technical characteristics
- Maker recorded
- Oth, Clas
- Place recorded
- Nuremberg
Identification
- Candidate id
- vam-O111889
- Museum object number
- E.991-1920
- 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.