Odds and Ends
Among the other extravagant fashions of the French Court from the time of Charles the Sixth to that of Louis the Sixteenth, that of decorating the card-room, its furniture, accessories, and even the cards themselves, was by no means the least. It was perhaps fitting that the place in which enormous sums of money changed hands should be decorated as a shrine to the God of Play, and it is certain that they were luxuriously furnished and magnificently adorned. Under Louis the Fourteenth the cloths were of green velvet embroidered in gold and enriched with bullion fringes. The counters were of various metals,—mother of pearl, or other valuable substances. We read of a pack embroidered on white satin enriched with silver, and another one engraved on mother of pearl. Some of the more luxurious among the aristocracy ordered their cards from the most famous miniature painters of the day, in order to differ as widely as possible from the roughly produced and cheap cards used by the common people; and of course for these cards enormous prices were given. The decorations of the card-rooms were in harmony with the accessories of the tables, and tapestries were designed and woven to accord with the scenes which they surrounded; even within a few years one of the modern palaces in Europe has been adorned with mural decorations which represented the court cards of obsolete packs; and the four Knaves in picturesque costumes, life size and beautifully designed and executed, surround the card-room.