Tarot card (King of Diamonds)
Record status
Individual type · partial
Period
1945-50
This object is a single tarock (tarot) playing card depicting the King of Diamonds, belonging to a 52-card surviving group from an original pack of 54. Published by F. Piatnik & Söhne in Vienna, the cards are produced using printing ink as colour lithographs. The set forms part of the 'Industrie und Gluck' (Industry and Fortune) pattern designed by J. Neumayer, with card backs decorated in a diagonal plaid.
The card is rectangular with rounded corners and features a double-ended court design. The king is depicted with a beard and crown, holding a sceptre and sword, dressed in an ornate robe with fur-trimmed mantle and decorative borders. A single red diamond suit symbol is placed in the upper-left and lower-right corners. The card bears the handwritten museum accession mark 'E.30(44)-1951' and a 'V.A.M.' stamp along the lower margin. Dimensions in the museum records list a measurement of 2.5 by 2.5 inches, while related catalogue documentation records the individual cards as 11.3 by 6.3 cm.
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.
Historical context
The card pack originates from Vienna and is dated to 1945–1950 (with related documentation noting late 19th-century publication and design work by J. Neumayer around 1890). It originally contained four suits (Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades) and 21 atouts, preserved in a fragmentary wrapper. The set was gifted to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Godfrey Lias in 1951.
Physical characteristics
- Dimensions
- Height: 2.5 in; Width: 2.5 in
Technical characteristics
- Maker recorded
- F. Piatnik & Söhne
- Place recorded
- Vienna
Identification
- Source note
- Transcribed from the Victoria and Albert Museum collection record for this single object; how far it represents a wider collectible type has not been independently verified.
- Museum object name
- Tarot card
- Museum object number
- E.30:44-1951
Catalogue references
No catalogue numbers recorded. Numbers are only published once transcribed from a verified edition of a standard catalogue — they are never inferred.