Card deck:Gainsborough

American game manufacturers E.E. Fairchild, formerly known as Alderman-Fairchild and other variations of the two names, produced board games and playing cards steadily throughout most of the 20th century. The firm started as a print jobber, drawing on the long tradition of printing industries in Rochester, New York. The 1920s saw the peak of their quality game manufacture, featuring timely, bright, and innovative game designs. By the 1950s the firm's quality lessened, but playing card manufacture provided steady income. Their Gainsborough line, marketed as "the world's most beautiful playing cards" carried reproduction images of famous paintings and iconic designs. The art of Englishman Thomas Lawrence, a well-known early Victorian painter, adorns this particular bridge set. Lawrence is perhaps best known for his "Blue Boy" and "Pinkie" portraits. This deck features his portrait of Master Lambton, or "the boy in red," and an unknown girl dressed in blue. Bridge decks nearly always sold in matched pairs such as this.