Card deck

Nearly all of the early American card makers featured some form of eagle around the central spade and often a maker's mark. In England as well, tax laws forced card makers to design the ace in specific ways, to prove the playing card tax was paid. The British firm Hunt & Sons manufactured playing cards during the 19th century. This particular example dates from around 1828. Like most English card decks, and later American examples, this deck features the French designs known as the Rouennaise style. The face cards, or "court" cards, are not double sided; neither do they carry the small corner markers, or indices, found in later manufactured card decks. Hunt & Sons applied the colors in this deck by hand.