Cards fit for a King
26th September 2023
A set of cards used in a game with King Charles II and Catherine of Braganza has emerged in Salisbury after over 300 years in the same family.
The extremely rare set of 17th century cards are enclosed in a contemporary wrapper with a late 18th century note inscribed ‘Cards that King Charles & Queen Catherine played with at my great Grandfather’s, Mr Amherst of Riverhead on their way to Tunbridge Wells. Margaret Perkins.’
Jeffery Amherst (1649-1713) was a barrister, MP and bencher of Gray’s Inn living at Riverhead near Sevenoaks in Kent. Charles II and his Portuguese wife travelled regularly to Tunbridge Wells to take advantage of the spa waters, in the hope of improving the queen’s fertility. Catherine herself was a very keen card player and would shock devout Protestants of the time by playing on Sundays.
“The fine condition of these cards, and the fact that it is a complete set, suggests that they may have only been used by the Royal couple and then put away for posterity,” said Works of Art specialist, Mark Yuan-Richards, who is handling the sale of the cards at Woolley and Wallis in Salisbury. “The vendor inherited the set from his great-aunt, who kept them boxed away in her attic. We can trace her family back through eight generations to Jeffery Amherst so the set has clearly been passed down over the centuries and treasured all that time.”
The cards are believed to have been made by Robert Whitfield – one time Master of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards – and are marked as ‘superfine’ and given gilt edges, meaning that they were of the best quality. The Jack of Clubs is inscribed ‘C Hewson’ – a reference to the knavish Cromwellian Colonel John Hewson who signed the death warrant of Charles I in 1649.
“Playing cards from this time are scarce survivals, given the delicate nature of their material and the way they were often manhandled during games. Full sets are even more scarce and the remarkable provenance of these marks them out as true museum pieces,” continued Yuan-Richards.
The Margaret Perkins who wrote the note during the reign of George III was descended from Jeffery Amherst via his daughter, Margaret, who married John Seyliard. The Perkins family inherited the manor house in Bletchingley, Surrey, which was subsequently passed on to Jarvis Kenrick. From there the cards appear to have followed a direct line of descent before emerging on the open market for the first time in potentially 350 years.
“The families descending from the Amherst line are well-established as aristocracy throughout Kent and Surrey over the last three centuries and have played significant parts in royal and military history. Margaret Perkins is buried in St Mary’s Church in Bletchingley and would no doubt be astonished to learn that her handwriting has played such a valuable part in confirming the history of this important set of cards, some 200 years since she put pen to paper,” said Yuan-Richards.
The cards sold for a premium-inclusive £10,710 to a private UK collector bidding online against further bidders participating online and by telephone. The buyer disclosed that he hoped in future to donate the cards to the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards.
