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Castle Playing Cards on New Sustainable Eco Herbage Stock
Hand-drawn illustrations of medieval castle life on stock made from grass & leafy parts of plants. Limited to 2500 decks.
A greener, more sustainable deck of cards
A beautifully illustrated limited edition deck of playing cards printed on sustainable card stock made from grass and leafy parts of plants.
Medieval Castle Life
Medieval castle life as it has been portrayed in books and movies was filled with a flurry of activities such as endless feasting, entertainment, flamboyant jousting and much more. Castles were filled with Lords, Knights, Servants, Entertainers alike. The social class division in the medieval age was considerably wide and this meant that the affluent were afforded the protection and privacy of the castle.
Castles were often owned by royal families and extremely wealthy people. They were usually dressed glamorously whether there is an occasion or not. This is how they distinguish themselves from the other occupants of the castle who are generally soldiers and servants. The men dressed in clothes made out of velvet, damask or silk. The trimmings of their dress is usually made from fur. The women on the other hand wore tunics made from expensive materials that were usually dragged on the floor.
The men and women both wore colorful fabrics with rich embroidery. They sat on elegant furniture receiving guests who come to pledge their fealty and pay their tax.
King of Diamond
They are adorned with eye-catching jewellery and protected by heavily armed soldiers. The surrounding of the castle is also heavily protected with foot soldiers and men mounted on horses ready to protect their king and queen.
The Castle Playing Cards (limited edition)
Our castle playing cards, created by MPC (MakePlayingCards.com), aims to illustrate castle life during the medieval times. The jack of clubs card shows a typical soldier protecting the castle. He is fully armed, mounted on a horse with body armor to protect him during battle.
The queen of diamonds card shows a typical day in the castle where subjects come to pledge fealty and allegiance to their Lord who is dressed in flamboyant attire.
Queen of Diamond
Jack of diamonds shows a Lord with his huge stash of gold and coins which are usually stored in a tightly secured space within the castle.
Jack of Diamond
The king of spades shows a King, armed with an axe, thinking of his next move in a game of chess. Kings use the chess game to sharpen their war strategy skills in the medieval era.
King of Spade
Castles are usually surrounded by a large expanse of land that serves the Royals for leisure hunting. An example is the jack of spades with the image of a man carrying his ‘game’ which he killed with his bow and arrow.
Jack of Spade
During wartime, the castle is a fortress and usually the target of the opposition. There is a belief that once the castle falls, the city falls. The king of spades card shows an army general plotting how to invade the castle up ahead with the belief that if the castle falls, the city falls. Other images on the playing cards also give you an idea of what castle life feels like.
King cards
The joker cards show illustrations from both before and after battle.
Joker cards
The artwork
The artwork is all drawn by hand and fits perfectly with our new E27 card stock. We had many ideas for the court cards to show as may aspects of castle life in the medieval times as possible. They were sketched out at first before the chosen sketches go on into a more detailed drawing, some of which are shown below. Many did not make it into the deck. Many of the drawings took on a more violent theme but we chose to go in a softer direction after much thought. The outcome is that the deck feels a lot more appealing to play with.
from sketch to final
from sketch to final
The artifacts that the royals are holding are based on research, for example, the King of diamonds is holding an orb, a type of globus which in medieval times was a typical object to have with them when sitting at the throne.
Also if you look more closely, you will be able to see the suits as part of the drawing where for example, the club suit is engraved onto the back wall of the queen of clubs card and the queen of hearts is holding a sceptre with a heart on the top.
club suit in the back wall
a sceptre with a heart on the top
The card back design took us a while to get right. We decided on a white border design with 2 castles facing each other in the middle of the card showing the castle before and after battle where 1 is destroyed and 1 is in its former glory. The design is not symmetrical.
Playability and Handling
Card back
Card back
A new sustainable card stock from MPC
To align with MPC’s aim in reducing their carbon footprint, to use more environmentally friendly paper stock, with this deck, we introduce to you a new card stock which is made from more sustainable sources. This new card stock is called E27 Eco-Herbage and is made from grass and the leafy part of plants. The paper contains a natural brown tint to it with clearly visible fibers.
E27 card stock
The E27 card stock really adds a more natural and earthy feel to the Castle Playing Cards and fits perfectly with the design.
E27 Eco-Herbage card stock development
We have spent a lot of time and resources developing this sustainable card stock which requires to have smooth handling for the playability aspect as playing cards.
Soft handling
A perfect blend of water-based finishing is applied to the cards to ensure 3 things - that it brings out the artwork, it protects the artwork from friction and that the cards handle smoothly.
Buttery smooth
We're really happy to say that the E27 is both a great handling deck of cards, which also feels great in your hands but more importantly, is a more sustainable form of paper for playing cards perfect for the ever growing environmentally friendly and conscious community. Now you can get a few more decks without feeling guilty.
Eco-herbage tuck box
What's more, the tuck box is created from the same sustainable card stock material, which for name sake is called the T27 which you can find on our MPC website when creating your own decks.
Limited edition
The Castle deck does have a limited production of 2500 copies so once they are sold out, they're gone.
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