Muir & Moodie (Firm) :Muir & Moodie's pictorial playing cards [ca 1903 or 1919]

Pack of cards in four suits. The great majority of the cards show photographs of New Zealand scenery, Maori people and artifacts, and indigenous peoples of the Pacific (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa).

Maori subjects are on the following cards: 3 Hearts, 2 Diamonds, 3 Diamonds, 9 Clubs, 2 Spades, 5 Spades, 9 Spades.

The Joker card shows a photograph of a Fijian(?) man.

2 of Diamonds shows a Maori woman. There is a faint Customs red rubber stamp at the top of the card, dated 14 Dec 1919.

See article by Barry Hancox about Muir & Moodie playing cards, in the New Zealand ephemerist no. 4, Mar 2010; p.32-35. He dates a similar set to around 1903, based on Muir & Moodie promotional material and a Customs stamp for 1903. The Library's set has a Customs stamp date of 1919 on the card for 2 Diamonds, suggesting a later printing.

Quantity: 1 pack of cards.

Physical Description: Pack of 52 playing cards and one joker card in cardboard packet, 90 x 67 x 20 mm.

Provenance: Purchased from Potter & Potter Auctions, Chicago, online auction 1 June 2014, lot 770.